Draw power
REGION: Young Thomas Schmidt is looking forward to honing his entrepreneurial skills at a new market, where kids and commerce are encouraged to mix.
Young Thomas Schmidt is looking forward to honing his entrepreneurial skills at Manawatu¯ ’s newest market.
The eight-year old will be among 17 environmentally friendly stall-holders staking out what has become known as ‘‘Little Cuba’’ – where Cuba St meets George and Taonui St – in Palmerston North on Sunday, April 22.
Since he was 5, Thomas had worked his Magical Drawing Machine, where for 50 cents customers could ask the ‘‘machine’’ to draw anything they fancied.
The hardest subject he had been given to draw so far was a Minecraft Creeper, though one of his early assignments had also been fairly challenging.
‘‘They wanted a giant toffee apple that destroys the world during an earthquake,’’ Thomas said.
At first his mum Inez Schmidt had been taken aback by the request.
‘‘When I heard that I thought ‘give the kid a break’, but I took a step back, and he said ‘ok’ and did it. [The customer] got the drawing and said ‘that’s exactly what I wanted’.’’
Thomas said the motivation behind the drawing machine was earning his own money.
‘‘He does chores at home, but doesn’t get pocket money,’’ Schmidt said.
‘‘He’s really interested in machines and wants his own quad bike, so he has to save up for it. I asked him what he wanted to do and he said ‘a drawing machine’.’’
She also wanted him to understand that art had a commercial value and could be a viable occupation.
‘‘It’s good for kids to be around different kinds of people and be thrown challenges. It provides great learning opportunities coping with different requests.’’
Thomas also collected and sold pine cones, had an axe he used to split kindling to sell, and published four-page comic books.
‘‘He bought me a coffee the other week ... and that was pretty cool. The price [of the coffee] was equivalent to a 25-litre bag of pine cones,’’ Schmidt said.
Merlin Whiteman, 10, was another young entrepreneur who will be at the market, selling his home-cultivated ornamental plants and cacti.
Organiser Shaun Kay said the Pineapple Eco Market also had a combined Boys’ High and Girls’ High stall, with young people selling wooden spoons and re-useable cloth supermarket bags.
As well as stalls featuring retro and re-purposed clothing, there would be a poppy-making workshop and a live stage for performers.
The market runs from 10am to 2pm.