Joël grew up seeing her aunt create sculptures from wood. She used to sit in the latter’s workshop and watch her work with fascination. At the age of 14, her aunt gave her a piece of wood and a chisel, and asked her to create any form which came to her mind. After several attempts and a lot of patience, Joëlle was finally able to create a perfectly shaped lion head.

Ever since, she has been passionate about wood carving and with the help of Beautiful Localhands, she has been able to open her own workshop at home. Clients are impressed by her skill and dedication. They come to her with a description or an image of what they are looking for and she produces an exact wooden replica for them. She is also very popular at hotel exhibitions; clients love watching her carve out mini replicas of dodos or make personalised keyrings.