Chasing rainbows: Schoolboy’s business offers a ray of light
A TEENAGE entrepreneur has well and truly showed he’s a bright spark, after coming up with his own suncatcher business during lockdown.
Eben Pascoe (13), from Rathnew, Co Wicklow, has been making suncatchers, glass ornaments which reflect the sun’s light, since the age of eight.
They throw rainbows around the room by refracting the light, meaning that they’re a bit of brightness in these dark times.
The East Glendalough school pupil learnt the skill of making the ornaments from his father.
But more recently he has begun selling the suncatchers in his online Etsy shop and on Facebook, as well as in the Kilruddery farm shop in Bray, Co Wicklow.
He is among many inventive entrepreneurs around the country who have decided to pursue business interests in the face of the pandemic.
Eben said: “I’ve sold about 300 since my first post on the Shop In Ireland Facebook page a few weeks ago.
“I managed to make a large number of suncatchers during all the free time we had during the first lockdown.
“I’d like to do master glass blowing, to keep on making and selling my own creations and to see how they evolve and continue to grow with my business.”
Family
Eben made 40 suncatchers when he was eight years old after his father, Paul, had some material left over.
The schoolboy used these for Christmas gifts for his family.
“Everyone loved them and asked if they could buy some,” Eben said.
“By the next Christmas, I had a Facebook page and sold 100 or so and used the money to buy more stock.
“When I was 10, my dad and I went to Sligo and learned about lamp-work techniques with Graham Reid Design.
“We did a few courses over the next couple of years with him, a few weekends a year.”
If you would like to buy a suncatcher from Eben, log on to www.facebook.com/scintillasuncatchers.
You can also visit the online store at www.etsy.com/ie/shop/ ScintillaSunCatchers.