Teaching the colours of wood

• • Fernando has trained over 1000 apprentices in 15 years
• • Nazareno wood’s purple hues are his favourite
• • He values projects of co-creation with other designers

Fernando Roa has humbly shared his carpentry skills for over 15 years as master woodturner with the National Program of Craft Schools (Programa Nacional de Escuelas Taller), for special projects in rural Colombia and in his own workshop. The transmission of skills and of woodturning know-how has been part of his journey from as early as adolescence, when he learned his craft from master carpenters in his retired father’s workshop. As a trained artist his sensibility for design and problem-solving is what makes his craftsmanship so distinctive. Fernando searches for wood species with diverse colour palettes, and then carefully segments and arranges them into geometric patterns to form his puzzle-like vases and furniture. Though he shares his knowledge readily, Fernando's work is mostly commissioned by designers and galleries.