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Aguada.- When we arrived at the residence of Aurelio Lorenzo Quiñones, in Barrio Piedras Blancas, we found him carving the piece with which he would compete in the Certamen Nacional de la Talla de San Francisco de Asís (National Carving Contest of Saint Francis of Assisi), in Aguada.

While he was shaping the piece in his garage, with the beautiful view of the great variety of fruits and vegetables that he also harvests, he paused to show us some of his carving and restoration work.

“I have been an artisan all my life. When I was a boy, I remember how we played cowboys, more than 50 years ago... [Kids] would come looking for me to make the pistols. I made rifles and pistols with machetes. So, since I grew up near the river, I would go look for roots. And that’s how I began making tables out of roots,” says Lorenzo Quiñones about his beginnings.

The self-taught man fully entered the world of craftsmanship when more than 30 years ago, a barber from Aguada asked him if he could carve some Three Wise Men. He had never made these figures, but he still took on the challenge.

“That’s when I started selling them and people started asking me [to make them]. I kept perfecting the technique by myself. And still today... so many years later, from ‘87 to now,” adds the man from Aguada. Since then, he has taken up art as his second job and later shared his knowledge by offering workshops for adults.

And although he no longer formally teaches classes, he voluntarily helps children and young people interested in this art, so that they learn and grow in it.

The hands are “Lelo’s,” as he is known, main instrument. Lelo uses them not only to carve, but to harvest his food, and write poetry and novels. He is an active man with many ideas that he wants to share.

As part of his daily routine, he says that he reads El Nuevo Día newspaper, and writes down the motivational phrase of the day to discuss it with his wife. Then he catches up on some art projects, works in the yard for a while, sowing and picking fruits, and later goes up to his office to write poems or novels. Some of his stories are fiction; in others he presents real events, and sometimes he relates personal experiences. An example of the latter is his book Crónicas de un frustrado. It is a collection of poems in which he narrates experiences from his youth during which he suffered from alcoholism, a situation that he was able to overcome.

“So I leave this will for young people… Because that happened to me. I was a victim of alcoholism. But thank God, I haven’t drunk alcohol in almost 30 years,” he says. He recently completed a novel that will soon be sent to the publisher.

Returning to the topic of the piece he was carving when we arrived, the artisan shared the satisfaction he feels for his work. It is to the point that hours will pass without him realizing it.

“Apart from the fact that one is contributing to maintaining a centennial tradition, the carving of the [Three Wise Men] is much more than 300 years old. And that identifies us anywhere. I’ve seen carvings in other parts of the world. I’ve traveled outside the Island. But none of them are like the ones in Puerto Rico,” says Lelo with emotion.

If you want to purchase any of the Three Wise Men or saints made by Lelo, who also does commissions, you can call 939-242-3299.