At box number 167 in the Tales Ferraz Market in Aracaju, the piles of herbs, colourful pictures of saints, candles, incense, soap and honey make it difficult to notice the work by Jairo Dias Santana. Born in 1978 in Boquim (SE), he says that while selling medicinal herbs he started to also sell bits of clay from Carrapicho (SE), which are used as medicine. “People use it for skin problems. But I used to spend lots of time just looking at the packets of clay, and started modelling it and making a few things, to pass the time. There are so many images of saints around that I decided to make my own. I make them at the market and dry them in the sun, which is always plentiful. I learned by myself, never had a teacher. The images must be kept indoors. They can’t be outside because I don’t fire the pieces. I don’t have a kiln.” Jairo dries his pieces and paints them. His work is beautiful, revealing a natural talent. He is confident, showing how he makes his sculptures, and full of the will to carry on working. Apart from saints, Jairo makes animals and nativity scenes.