Scott Benefield’s trunk show at Craft NI Gallery shines a light on the beauty of blown glass  – stop by to learn about the Filigrana technique which goes back to 16th century Venice!

Scott Benefield’s work draws upon a particular heritage in the history of glass: the golden age of 16th century Venetian glassblowing. Filigrana is blown glass made with colourless, white, and sometimes coloured canes – this style originated on the island of Murano in the 16th century and spread rapidly to other parts of Europe. Scott Benefield’s Filigrana functional glassware comes in a range of vibrant summer colours, perfect for gifting or adding a pop of colour to your interior décor. Larger scale decorative works will also be shown alongside his functional range.

Scott Benefield is internationally known as a glassblower specialising in Venetian cane techniques, as well as a workshop leader and a writer covering issues pertinent to contemporary studio glass. Scott has exhibited his work at the Royal Ulster Academy annual exhibition in 2012-2015, the British Glass Biennale in 2015, as well at galleries in Ireland, England, Scotland, the US, the Netherlands, Japan and China.

He works from his studio which is an old farm property on the rugged north Antrim coast, just outside of the village of Ballintoy in Northern Ireland. All of the work is designed, produced and finished entirely by hand.