Attention – Winnipeg Free Press – Winnipeg Free Press Achi-News

Callan Thompson is a typical 11-year-old.

He enjoys video games, basketball, Marvel movies and hanging out with his brother Isaac on a backyard trampoline. Oh, and he’s also responsible for Callan’s Art, a venture that markets his colorful line of hand-drawn greeting cards and mat prints.

Sitting next to his mother Adele at their dining room table, Callan remembers that he first caught the art bug in 2019, when he was a Grade 1 student in San Francisco. One morning, his teacher instructed the class to make a watercolor painting, using a photograph of their own choice as the subject matter.

He was an owl with blue and yellow feathers, he said, dressed in jeans and a bright tie-dye T-shirt. Although he was among the last to complete the task, his teacher judged his effort to be excellent. In addition, he posted a photo of the finished product on the school’s Facebook page, along with the message “Whoa, the owl paintings are great this year.”

Encouraged by her kind words and actions, Vancouver-born Callan took to YouTube to learn more about recreating images from snapshots, an art style he came to understand as photorealism. He was soon spending a lot of his spare time rendering very detailed pencil-crayon drawings of other members of the animal kingdom, by studying pictures he came across online and in books.

Callan’s family moved to Winnipeg, where his father had enrolled at the University of Manitoba in March 2020. He had only been attending his new school for a week when the world shut down.

Theirs was already a “home body family,” his mother said, but, for obvious reasons, they became even more so during the early stages of COVID. “That’s when Callan started to take out his pencils, and focus even more on his drawings and technique.”

Last summer, the family spent a month in the United Kingdom, visiting Adele’s relatives in Wales and Liverpool. Callan and his brother had been told ahead of time that it would be a screen-free holiday. For that reason, he made sure to pack his art supplies for the road.

She had never tried landscaping before, but decided to give it a go, by duplicating the view from her great-uncle’s backyard in Aberystwyth, Wales, a beautiful coastal community overlooking Ceredigion Bay. By the time the trip was over, he had filled an entire sketchpad with images of the English countryside, including depictions of native fauna and flora.

Besides his much talked about outside interests, Callan is also a “Lego nut.” After returning from overseas, he expressed interest in a Lego set that retailed for nearly $100. His mother suggested that he try to earn the money by selling some of what he had drawn across the pond. That sounded like a great idea, he agreed.

Adele did the preliminary legwork, by finding a Winnipeg printing company that could convert high-resolution photographs of his artwork into standard-sized greeting cards. For the initial run, he settled on pictures of a butterfly, a pair of lovebirds, a robin, a shoreline and a hibiscus flower. Mother and son then packaged the blank cards inside as sets of five, and proceeded to sell them in a lemonade-like stand that they set up on the boulevard outside their home, one August afternoon. (His brother got in on the act, too, by peddling treats like potato chips and Rice Krispie squares, in a nearby set.)

Not only did Callan net enough earnings to afford the Lego set he had his heart set on, passers-by openly wondered if he could take a photo of their pet cat or dog, if they give him a picture. Just like that, Callan’s Art was born.

The school is always going to come first, Callan said. That said, she made time last fall to attend a few pop-up markets before the holiday season, including one to support a non-profit animal rescue. He also took part in a youth event held at the St Norbert Farmers Market last January, which gave entrepreneurs aged 18 and under the chance to strut their stuff, so to speak.

“Most people want to know how old I am, or if I’m really the person who made everything up,” he said, when asked what kind of questions arise when he puts on his hat seller. “And of course, everyone wants to know ‘how much?'”

Lyne Morissette is the owner of Little Tree Hugger Soap Co., which sells all-natural bath and body products along with foods and home accessories. She introduced herself to Callan and his mother a few months ago, when the two of them were poking through the shelves of her Corydon Avenue area.

“We started talking about the concept of our store being one that supports Manitoba businesses and artists, by helping to get them started in the market,” said Morissette, whose operation will open at a new address, 515 Century St., on May 1. “Callan showed me his beautiful artwork and I was completely blown away by his talent.”

Little Tree Hugger Soap Co. keeps a variety of Callan’s creations. Morissette says customers often have a hard time believing he’s a fifth grader when they turn over one of his greeting cards and read his bio on the back.

“And reasonably so, as his art is much more advanced than you would expect from an 11-year-old,” he adds.

Marlene Hornick, manager of Love Local Manitoba, based in the St. Vital, also a big fan.

“I was on the Facebook market when I saw Callan’s mother advertising his work. I’m a big fan of young entrepreneurs, and believe they need as many platforms as possible, so I reached out to his mother, and offered him a place in the shop,” said Hornick, whose two and a half years – there are old buildings stocks hundreds of locally made goods, such as Jacked Up Jill coffee, Smak Dab mustard and Coal & Canary candles.

Hornick, whose favorite piece of Callan’s artwork depicts a surfer riding the waves, says she is happy to draw the attention of everyone who ventures into the store to his display.

“It has done very well in sales and has surprised many.”

Callan, who belongs to an after school art class on Tuesdays, has recently added portraits of people to her repertoire. Admittedly he still struggles with his eyes and facial expressions, but he is pleased that a visitor can recognize Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock, from a sketch he is putting the final touches on . (Don’t let the professional-looking wooden easel he rests on you, his mother laughs. Typically, Callan does his best work kneeling at the living room coffee table, listening to Crazy Frog through his headphones.)

Of course, she and her husband never want Callan’s Art to feel like a job, Adele is quick to point out. At the same time, because her son receives custom orders from time to time, as one of a group of manatees he started a few weeks ago, she will check in with him now and again, to see how things are going. n get on.

“Not that he ever really needs an extra push,” he said, prompting Callan to explain how he motivates himself to punch the clock.

“A little while ago, I came up with the idea that after finishing a commission, we should all go to McDonald’s for dinner,” he said, listing fries and a quarter pounder with cheese – hold the pickles – as his go-to. order “Firstly, because it’s a good reward for doing my job, and secondly, because I really like McDonald’s.”

[email protected]

Ad blocking test (Why?)

Source link

Related