A few days ago, I went the Knole estate in Kent. I saw deer, the Sackville mansion and the art conservation studio. I also learned about a new career: art conservator. For those who are interested, to be an art conservator you need to study:
- History
- Making art (which I assume you are already very good at)
- Chemistry
Why chemistry? Let me explain why you need chemistry. Here is an example: Let's say you are an art conservator and you are working on restoring a chair with gold leaf. You would need a gilder's cushion and brush, adhesive. . . wait! What kind of adhesive? You need to understand chemistry in order to understand the damage done to the chair and which cleaners and adhesives to use for this particular artifact.
If you would like to learn more about this career, go to these websites:
- https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/knole
- https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/knole/conservation-studio (don't miss the video!)
- https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/knole/lists/meet-the-conservators (meet an art conservator!)
Are you doing Arts Award? If so, what level?
Yes. I am completing Arts Award Discover. I find Arts Award very interesting and calming instead of being in a rush or working under a lot of pressure. So, after a mad rush, I finally have peace and calm with Arts Award. In addition to Arts Award, I also want to post my art discoveries and share them with other people of ALL levels on Voice Mag.
What did you think of this career?
To me (and probably others who read my blog), the career of being an art conservationist sounded extremely interesting. I like the way you have to be deeply concentrated and attentive to what you are doing. During my visit to Knole, I also met a woman who works as a conservator. She was gilding a chair (a.k.a., applying gold leaf) destined for James II though he never got to use it. She had to apply gold leaf on the chair's legs. The legs had little angels carved in the wood. It seemed very fun.
Would you like to do it? Why or why not?
I think I would like to be an art conservator because I always wanted to do something that seemed very complex to others and easy to me. I think that there are probably other people doing Arts Award who would want to do the same thing. If I become an art conservator, I think I might try to get a job at Knole or other National Trust sites that do conservation.
It sounds great! Could you tell us more about how your day went?