Lab - Benvenuto Mastri Vetrai

The Lab

The lab is the physical place in the company where ideas come to life and materialise. When I am asked to realise something new, I start by imagining how I can do it. I access my mental store of experience and knowledge.

Then I go down to the lab and look for everything I might need to materialise the request as if it belonged to me, as if I had to make it for myself. As I carry out these preliminary operations, my mind and intuition lead me to visualise the thread of creation. Which means the set of images and technical details that will lead me to the concretisation of the work.

Here the people who collaborate with me come into play. If I have the tools, the possibility and the time, I start the operational phase myself, otherwise I give directions to my collaborators. I talk to those who are most competent according to what I have to create, I explain how the request should be realised. This is where the synergy is triggered. In the lab you need receptive people who know how to grasp the various aspects necessary to arrive at the finalization of the artistic project.

People are not all the same; to pretend to standardise them would be impossible. In my lab I differentiate tasks and, at times, I can be intransigent in my requests, but I have never demanded something that I would not be able to do.

At this point, the tests begin. The work takes several days and, as you progress, you assess whether you are on the right track or whether you need to change it. The process consists of trial and error until the request comes to life. Then I evaluate it and, if I am satisfied, I show it to the customer.

Sometimes it happens that it is the customer who proposes changes in the construction of the piece, and it may happen that these changes may affect the aesthetic balance of the work. In these cases, it is my duty to warn him of what might occur.

His judgement is ultimately what counts, however.

It is the positive challenge that fuels the desire to create and give more.

Techniques

Gold leaf

The technique consists of using a fine pure gold foil that is placed and moulded on the glass and then fixed.

Glass fusion

The process involves fusing one sheet of glass onto another or fusing and shaping a single sheet of glass. It is a technique that offers endless possibilities for artistic expression and just as many results.

Tubage

A glassmaking technique that has disappeared and then, by me, rediscovered, which involves painting a string of paste around the shapes you want to create and applying enamel to the inside of them and then baking the whole thing in an oven at high temperature.

Tiffany

This is the technique of stained glass which, instead of being joined by lead binding, is assembled by tinning, making otherwise unworkable shapes possible. It is an iconic technique from the Liberty and Art Nuveau periods.

Lead

The most traditional technique in stained glass, mainly used in exterior glazing. It involves binding the glass with lead.

Mirrors

Glass and mirror combine in terms of materials and possible processing techniques. The latter can be made and decorated using the same techniques as the former, but its role is complementary to that of glass in furniture and interior design.

Engraving and sandblasting

Engraving is the technique of removing part of the material from the surface of the glass to create eternal shapes and decorations without the use of colour. Depending on the tool used, one can distinguish between engraving, which is carried out with a diamond tool, and sandblasting, which involves the use of abrasive sands. Increasing the depth of the engraving leads to the creation of the bas-relief.

Restoration

Restoration is the intervention aimed at restoring the beauty and value of an object marked by time. Technical expertise, historical knowledge of techniques and materials, and artistic skill are the ingredients that allow this task to be completed with respect.

Cast Glass

The technique involves pouring crucible glass onto moulds so that it takes on the desired shape. Unlike glass fusing, which has almost no size limits, the cast glass technique, also called pouring cast glass, is suitable for works with defined and circumscribed dimensions. In terms of transparency, an insuperable result is achieved with cast glass.

Atelier for artists

At the turn of the millennium, I wanted to give some artists the opportunity to enter my lab to draw on their skills and experience in order to create their works in glass.

Claudio Massini and Carmelo Zotti were the first to inaugurate the Atelier for Artists by coming to work with me.

Depending on the work and the skills of the artist, I made myself available to teach the basics and to encourage these creations to come to light. In the most complex cases, the lab handled some phases of the work such as lead binding in stained glass.

With the Atelier for Artists, I offered the experience, skills and equipment so that the artist could compose part of the work or the entire work at my lab.

Over the past few years, visits from designers and artists have come and gone, providing inspiration for their projects.

Our doors always remain open to researchers, avant-gardists and revolutionary experimenters.

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WOULD YOU LIKE TO TELL US ABOUT YOUR PROJECT? WE WOULD LOVE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU AND HEAR FROM YOU. CALL OR WRITE TO US TO LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS. WE WOULD LIKE TO HELP YOU MAKE YOUR VISION A BEAUTIFUL REALITY.

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Beyond the simple tailor-made.

CREATIVITY WITHOUT THE BOX

Our creativity has no
limitation perimeter.

BEAUTIFULNESS

If it is not beautiful and if it is not perfect,
it is not a Benvenuto Glass Masters.

Beyond, Bespoke, Benvenuto.

bespoke GLASS art.

The Lab

Techniques

Atelier for artists

WOULD YOU LIKE TO TELL US ABOUT YOUR PROJECT? WE WOULD LOVE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU AND HEAR FROM YOU. CALL OR WRITE TO US TO LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS. WE WOULD LIKE TO HELP YOU MAKE YOUR VISION A BEAUTIFUL REALITY.

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