A former doctor living in St. Albert has switched from medicine to art, but still uses the tools of his old trade.
Joe Rizzi can find his canvas anywhere, especially in the fall.
With a scalpel and a brush, Rizzi has gained local notoriety for his artwork carved into leaves.
"Whatever you can draw, you can carve it on a leaf," he told CTV News Edmonton.
"Because I like it, it's relaxing for me. You take a cup of coffee, put some music…"
Rizzi, concerned about drug cartel violence, moved to Canada a decade ago from Monterrey, Mexico.
"It wasn't safe for my kids," he recalled. "I didn't want my kids growing with that kind of violence."
The move meant the end of his medical career, as Rizzi couldn't afford to go back to school to become licensed in Canada.
However, when he gifted a designed leaf to a friend, who showed it around, others started asking for his art, too.
Rizzi said it was an opportunity to draw on the skills he used to use.
"You just scrape the surface of the leaf in order to remove the skin, trying to preserve the veins or the nerves," he says, sitting down and explaining the process.
In fact, his new profession calls on Rizzi to use some of his early training: "We learn surgery back there (by using) leaves in order to practice to cut veins and things like that."
He says his favourite leaf to work with is probably the favourite of many other Canadians, as well: the Maple Leaf.
With files from Amanda Anderson
