Local balloon artist creates Titanic model

A NORTHSIDE balloon artist was among a team of six tasked with creating a 45-foot Titanic model to mark the anniversary in Belfast of the ship’s ill-fated maiden voyage.

Angela Holland of Dublin Balloons, based in Raheny Shopping Centre, was given the once in a lifetime opportunity to play a pivotal part in the project to create and raise a to-scale model of the cruise ship which is now suspended in a shopping centre just yards from where the Titanic was built.

It took six balloon artists four full days to inflate and mould over 14,000 balloons into the jaw-droppingly impressive and convincing model ship.

It is now suspended over the main shopping mall in Victoria Square Mall close to Harland and Wolff Shipyard in Belfast where the Titanic was designed and built.

Ms Holland said working on a project of such magnitude was a fantastic experience.

“It’s without doubt the biggest project I’ve ever worked on,

? she told Northside People on her return from Belfast.

“I was asked to work on the project by the Titanic model designer Fiona Fisher who I’ve met and worked with prior to this in the UK.

“I was thrilled to get the call so off I headed to Belfast on April 1 and work got underway the following day.

“The six of us would start at 8.30am every morning and we’d keep going until 6.30pm.

“There were some complications in terms of getting it right. The bends and turns were a little tricky but it was all achievable because it was very well designed and we are all very experienced balloon artists so it wasn’t a problem.

?

According to Angela, the project was all the more special given its poignancy and constant interaction with the general public.

“We were working on site in the shopping centre so we were really visible and we’d get people coming up to us asking what we’re doing,

? she told Northside People.

“It was great for the public to be able to map the progress of the project from day-to-day and then on the final day there was naturally great excitement when it was hoisted up.

?

The 14,000 white, black and red balloons were filled with air before they were treated, polished and attached to the model.

The model will remain in the shopping centre until the end of the month and is one of many exhibitions in Belfast to mark the centenary of the Titanic’s ill-fated voyage in April 1912.

The model Titanic joins a long list of weird and wonderful balloon creations that Angela and her team at Dublin Balloons have worked on.

The company, which is in its fourth year in business, can make almost any sculptures on request. For more information visit www.dublinballoons.com or call 087-9444849.