Loly Maria De Los Santos, Borucan Artist

“One day someone gave me a jicara, and I saw something special, so I saved it. Many years passed before the idea came to me to create animals with it.”

Loly dries and boils the jicara fruit for hours to cure and clean it. Then she envisions her animal, carving the legs, head and tail in balsa wood. Her grandson works alongside her, adding the color.

Jicaras, which grow in trees around the village, are traditionally carved to make water bottle or maracas. Now Loly has created a new art with them!