One day, his grandfather told him he was going to teach him a craft tougher than wood and coconut carving, a craft for which Edio had already shown the strength in his hands. Edio accepted and learned to make his first herons and crabs using cowhorn. Since then, every time he sits at his workbench, he remembers his first teacher, his grandfather José Miguel Barrios, and all the little tricks he passed down for working with the craft—like how to create the shell of freshwater crabs in the shape of an old TV set, or how to carve the eyes for saltwater crabs and the claws, which should be different sizes for freshwater crabs and the same size for saltwater crabs. His grandfather, who had learned the craft thanks to his friendship with another artisan, passed down the skill of wood and coconut carving to his children, and so it continued, with all nine of Edio’s siblings also knowing the same craft.

The secret lay in understanding the behavior of the cowhorn and that temperamental strand that often pops up in the final steps of the crafting process. This was why not just anyone could work with it, as his grandfather explained when Edio was fifteen. The trick was learning to lift the strand with a small piece of glass when it lifted and damaged the polished surface, almost like a splinter. He also learned to light a small candle and hold the horn over the flame to patiently mold it, transforming it into animals and spoons of all sizes.

Having practiced the craft since his adolescence, and knowing that it has provided for his family and helped raise his two children, Edio has always found time to diversify his work. With a natural love for carpentry, he found ways to incorporate it into his pieces, welcoming other materials like coconut, bone, and shells. He makes cutting boards, small bowls, chairs, combs, and even mirrors, all inlaid with a blend of textures and colors: the brown of coconut, the veins of cowhorn, the nacre of shells, the natural tones of wood, and the white of beef bone. He arranges the textures and colors into chessboard patterns or suspends them in resin, so the best way to appreciate one of his creations is up close. When you visit, he will guide you to make your own little ice cream spoon using cowhorn, the material that has accompanied him for more than forty years.