Tours and Activities:

Hand Carved Wooden Flowers

The artist just needs a few minutes to transform a simple stick of whicker into roses, dahlias, daisies and chrysanthemums.

There is a handicraft that has represented Pucón for many years. Woodcarved flowers of different shapes and a thousand colors are on sale to one side of the road that leads to the City of Villarrica. Likewise, the workshop where they are made is open to visitors.

At that venue, we were welcomed by Juan Castillo Morales, one of the sons of the creator of these flowers. Everyday, Juan makes hundreds of them with skill and care.

We asked him about the materials he used as he got down to work. “The Chilean willow or whicker is found nearby and left to dry in order to shape it”, he said. His tools were made up by a knife, a punch and a kind of giant pencil sharpener set on a lathe. He uses the latter to make some curls of wood shavings that will make up the main body of the flower.

We began to understand the assembling process. Juan carefully showed us how he carved a small piece of willow to make the core of the flower and then add the thin wooden leaves one on top of the other. Little by little, the final result appeared in the hands of this skillful craftsman.

Juan inherited this craft from his father and has been practicing this original work for over 25 years. He shapes the flowers with agile moves and then finishes it with an airbrush fed with aniline of different colors. Patience and skill are the essential element for this art.

Finished works were displayed on the walls waiting to be sold. We admired their esthetics and durability. We bought some and realized the technique appears to be simple but it has its secrets. Of course Juan knows them perfectly well.

When seen from a distance, they are as pretty as natural flowers. When we look closer, we can understand how this handicraft has conquered the market, even outside Chile. Art has no frontiers and the wooden flowers created in Pucón have an unmistakable seal and remain in time.

Juan Castillo Morales
Address: 240, Caupolicán Street – (4920000) Pucón - IX Región - Chile
Te: +56 45 65012028 and cell phone 97868817

See also: Hotels in Pucón and other accommodation venues