Will the next project be a bear? Maybe a mysterious-looking fox? Either way, Luis Pérez says he never does the same thing twice.
“I like to experiment with different colors of the wood,” he said in Spanish.
Originally from Venezuela, Pérez said his love for wood sculpting started during his teenage years. His dad took on lots of hobbies and often taught Pérez what he learned. He said this helped him bond with his dad, and he eventually found wood sculpting through him.
“Since my time in Venezuela, woodsculpting would relax me,” he said. “To this day, it still does.”
No bigger than a small bedroom, his garage-turned-woodshop overflows with the tools of his craft. Every corner holds something essential, including blades that slice cleanly through wood and sanders that soften sharp edges. From that small space, he runs his own small business, Spokane Scrollers, selling handcrafted pieces to the community.
While he said he tries not to spend too much time in his woodshop after work, he often finds himself working on projects throughout the week. Some items, like a crucifix, could take a day, while others take days or even weeks longer.
Pérez said since migrating from Venezuela to Spokane in 2018, the Pacific Northwest has become the inspiration behind many of his pieces.
He says Blue Pine wood is one of his favorites to recreate the cloudy skies of Spokane.
“I try to maintain the wood and keep it in a box. The sun can deform the wood’s structure,” Pérez said.
Pérez’s move came after years of growing hardship in Venezuela. By the mid-2010s, just a few years after Nicolás Maduro became president, the country was already facing severe economic collapse and frequent protests and political unrest, he said.
That’s when he and his family decided to apply for the Diversity Visa Program, Pérez said.
“Our kids weren’t at fault for everything happening in our country, and so for the future of our kids, we looked at different options,” he said.
The Diversity Visa program was created under the Immigration Act of 1990 and began issuing visas in 1995. Designed as a lottery system, it selects up to 50,000 immigrants each year through a randomized, computer-based process. The application is free to enter. As of December 2025, however, the program was paused following an order from the Department of Homeland Security, temporarily halting new visa issuances while it undergoes review.
Still, in the past, applicants who were approved received their visas within a year, like the Pérez family.
“We came directly to Spokane once everything was approved and started from scratch,” Perez said.
Soon after their arrival, he transformed their garage, where it often smelled like fresh wood and sawdust, just like it once did in his home in Venezuela.
His daughter, Mercedes Pérez, said she remembers being fascinated by how a simple piece of wood could slowly turn into something else. She said one of her favorite memories of her father was when he would make sushi boats, especially since her mom would make sushi often.
“It was inspiring to see him not leave his dream behind just because we moved to another country,” Mercedes said.
When she got to college, Mercedes said she took a wood workshop class, where she learned to cut and assemble wood using machines. After years of watching her dad, the work felt surprisingly natural, even though it was still tedious.
“He taught me that this kind of work requires a lot of passion and patience; it’s not easy to craft something perfectly and assemble it correctly,” Mercedes said.
She said her father’s dedication to woodsculpting motivated her to pursue a career in architecture, earning her bachelor’s degree at Washington State University, and she now resides in Texas where she works in architectural design.
Today, they often bounce ideas off each other, with her father frequently seeking her opinion, Mercedes said.
“Watching him taught me patience and attention to detail at a very early age. He showed me that design is not only about drawing something, but about understanding the material and respecting its limits,” she said.
Pérez said he goes to local markets to showcase his art, including at Latinos en Spokane and high school events.
He says his art is his way of leaving a legacy behind to his community.
“God gave us five senses, and I think it’s beautiful to make something with all of your five senses,” Pérez said.
