Benjamin Elliott Ugol was born in Woodland Hills California in 1994 and moved to Tampa with his family when he was 10 years old.  He expressed an interest in the arts from a young age. He was introduced to glasswork in college and once he melted glass for the first time, he became instantly hooked to the medium.  

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In recent years, Benjamin was fortunate enough to be brought onto a team in Murano Italy, working with grandmaster glassblower Davide Salvadore and his two sons, Marco and Mattia. He trained under this exceptional team and it was there that he began specializing in cane work and murrini, a famous technique that he would later use in his own work. 

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After two years in Italy, Benjamin returned to the US where he became a house gaffer at the Morean Art Center. In addition to his role there, he currently also works out of Sigma Glass Studio which is the first glass studio in St Petersburg. Here Benjamin worked closely with Chuck Buax the owner of Sigma Glass Studio and his son Harry Buax and learned a technique referred to as the Swedish Overlay, one of the trickiest techniques in glassblowing. Benjamin has now been adding Venetian style glass blowing with the Swedish overlay which makes his personal style so unique and specialized.