She's an artistic entrepreneur and she's nine years old.
Maya McCutcheon from Fort St. James kept asking her parents for 'this and that' at six years old and when she was told if she wanted 'this and that' she'd have to earn her own money, she turned to her artistic talents as a means to an end.
This year, Maya showcased her work to the Prince George & District Community Arts Council (CAC) in the spring and when program manager Lisa Redpath saw some of Maya's work, she was interested in supporting the young artist.
"It is very charming imagery and in the pile she showed us, there was some Christmas scenery," Redpath said.
The Community Arts Council sends out Christmas cards every year and chooses work from a regional artist to showcase their extraordinary talent, Redpath added.
"Negotiating terms with this nine-year-old business girl was one of the highlights of my year," she said." Maya is really building her entrepreneurial skills. I'm smiling right now just thinking about how we struck our deal. Her parents are great guides for her but she did the negotiating all by herself. She is so inspirational and a real example for other young artists to follow. Really, she is a good example for any age."
It all started because Maya's mom Mel said she grew up in a household where everything was not handed to her on a silver platter and she wanted to raise her daughter the same way.
Mel said as a young person she made some budgeting mistakes and had to work her way out of it and she wanted to give Maya the skills so that her daughter didn't have to learn the hard way.
"She was wanting to buy things and her father and I didn't want to spoil her rotten and she couldn't do physical labour or babysit so we tried to get creative in a way that she could earn some money, learn some skills and buy some things herself," Mel said.
"I started making art when I was six years old," Maya said. "I started in school."
Maya said they decided to make greeting cards using images she created. Her preferred medium is watercolour with alcohol.
"Because it's fun to see how it turns out," Maya said.
Mel said they used a Canadian printing company and made greeting cards.
They soon began selling the cards locally at the farmers' market.
"And the second year I joined the craft fair with more art," Maya piped in. "The next year it just kept going up and up with more cards and then this year I got magnets, calendars and cards."
Every year, Maya has a big ticket item on her wish list. Most recently she wanted an above ground pool that cost $300. Maya bought it and hit a milestone soon after. She's got $1,000 in her savings account.
"We recently celebrated that," Mel said. "We don't know many kids that are thinking that way so it's neat."
During the Christmas holidays, Mel and Maya will be exploring a new medium - clay.
Maya wants to make pottery bowls and she wants to use a wheel to make them.
"Because those are the easiest things to make," Maya said.
As far as making other items to sell, Maya was thinking of making light switch covers and bags.
Maya has a loan from her parents that she has to pay back.
"We were trying to explain to Maya about paying back her costs," Mel said.
After some trial and error, Maya began paying her parents back as she sold her work, understanding a profit margin and how her profit increases as she prints more products at one time.
For the community arts council project, Maya was able to fund it herself, which means all the profit stays with her.
"So that was really exciting for her," Mel said. "It was a real learning curve for her and we are so proud to watch her go from super, super shy and nervous and struggling with the math to someone who has to do all the math and talk to her customers."
This year, Maya was at a two-day craft fair and handled most of it by herself.
"I think she made over $300 profit in those two days and then she went shopping for toys for the toy and food drive and donated $200 to it, so that was pretty cool. We are pleased to see how confident she is now. We're pretty grateful for all who support Maya."
The public won't miss out on investing in the young artist's endeavours. Maya's cards are available for sale at the CAC gift shop along with many other regional artists' work.
