I come from a family of glassblowers. Besides being a shoemaker, my grandfather also had a small furnace where he made vials and syringes for the pharmacy. My father started working for some important names like Venini, and then in the late 1960s he opened a small company.

Glass is something so obvious to me that I cannot say exactly when I started. It is like walking, talking, eating. It’s a family thing, in which I was born. As a good craftsman, my father immediately made me 'live' the furnace, as I did with my children. As I say, I first learned to work glass, then to walk.

I was lucky enough to learn in the family business, where we could call upon skilled masters specialised in certain techniques. In my 20s, I met Pino Signoretto, one of the great Murano masters, and I spent my free time watching him work in his furnace, which was a great schooling.

I will tell you when I have! To this day, if I have to work with artists I'm never relaxed. It’s a profession that you never stop learning. The moment you think you are capable, you realise that the unexpected is always around the corner.