Biography

Federico in his work bench	Federico L. Méndez-Castro was born in Caracas-Venezuela Lawyer,writer and woodworker I have been living between two worlds, the real and the one can be created every time I work in wood. I started in a garage woodshop where my ideas and designs came through. I made turned bowls, wood sculptures, and small boxes. With my wife, I opened an Art Gallery in Caracas, where I exhibited the wood furniture that I made, as well as other artists pieces. I worked as a wood tuning instructor in Insitituto Artesanal de la Colonia Tovar a German woodworking school founded in Venezuela. The school teaches the traditional way, with wood planes, bow saw and dovetails. I also worked with the Portuguese master cabinetmaker Carlos Fernandez Pimentel in the Taller Experimental de Carpinteria de la Fundacion Atenea, as a volunteer instructor. In 2005 decided to come to Canada as a student of the Inside Passage School of Fine Woodworking. I took the Craftsman program where I acquired the foundation skills to make fine furniture and was exposed to advanced methods including shop-sawn veneer, joinery at angles and the use of glass and curved elements. After finishing the program I stayed one more year as a Resident Craftsman executing independent work under the direction of faculty. As a Resident, I took part in the two student & faculty shows held throughout the Craftsman Program. My first cabinet was exhibited at the Northwest Fine Woodworking Art Gallery in Seattle and was chosen as their top-front publicity piece. The next cabinet was also exhibited at the said Art Gallery and was chosen by the Furniture Society to participate in their annual Cascadian Exhibition in Victoria. The last cabinet that I made being at the school was chosen to participate in the College of the Redwoods’ Wood Fair in Eureka, California, earning the 2nd. place award there. I like the moderns, from Leon Jallot, an Art Nouveau French cabinet-maker, to Gio Ponti, also Calatrava, Wegner, Nakashima, Stockdale, Ellsworth, Michael Lee and Krenov. I'm also interested in shaker and mission style.

Federico in his work bench

Federico L. Méndez-Castro was born in Caracas-Venezuela

Lawyer,writer and woodworker I have been living between two worlds, the real and the one can be created every time I work in wood.

I started in a garage woodshop where my ideas and designs came through. I made turned bowls, wood sculptures, and small boxes.

With my wife, I opened an Art Gallery in Caracas, where I exhibited the wood furniture that I made, as well as other artists pieces. I worked as a wood tuning instructor in Insitituto Artesanal de la Colonia Tovar a German woodworking school founded in Venezuela. The school teaches the traditional way, with wood planes, bow saw and dovetails. I also worked with the Portuguese master cabinetmaker Carlos Fernandez Pimentel in the Taller Experimental de Carpinteria de la Fundacion Atenea, as a volunteer instructor.

In 2005 decided to come to Canada as a student of the Inside Passage School of Fine Woodworking. I took the Craftsman program where I acquired the foundation skills to make fine furniture and was exposed to advanced methods including shop-sawn veneer, joinery at angles and the use of glass and curved elements.

After finishing the program I stayed one more year as a Resident Craftsman executing independent work under the direction of faculty. As a Resident, I took part in the two student & faculty shows held throughout the Craftsman Program. My first cabinet was exhibited at the Northwest Fine Woodworking Art Gallery in Seattle and was chosen as their top-front publicity piece. The next cabinet was also exhibited at the said Art Gallery and was chosen by the Furniture Society to participate in their annual Cascadian Exhibition in Victoria. The last cabinet that I made being at the school was chosen to participate in the College of the Redwoods’ Wood Fair in Eureka, California, earning the 2nd. place award there.

I like the moderns, from Leon Jallot, an Art Nouveau French cabinet-maker, to Gio Ponti, also Calatrava, Wegner, Nakashima, Stockdale, Ellsworth, Michael Lee and Krenov. I'm also interested in shaker and mission style.