After trying different art mediums, he chose wood-carving. But he wasn’t happy with the “shiny” look of new wood. After one of Cuba’s hurricanes a few years ago, he saw piles of old wood lying around the streets, ready for the dump. He carefully selected a few unbroken shutters and started carving them. He settled on the cedar ones, because they age well... and, he adds sheepishly, “they smell so good when I carve them”. He transforms the shutters into colorful portraits of his neighbors and other people he’s photographed.