Who is a furniture restorer and how to become one?
Vintage and antiques are always in fashion, and therefore there is no point in arguing about the relevance of the profession of a restorer who brings things from the past back to life. To become restorer furniture, you will have to put some effort into this, but the knowledge gained will certainly pay off. Next, we will take a closer look at the pros and cons of the profession, get acquainted with where the restorers work and how much they get for their work.
Pros and cons of the profession
Furniture restorer Is a person who is involved in restoring the appearance of antique pieces of furniture and objects that have obvious defects, but are still usable. The master returns them to their beauty and former majestic appearance, working with different materials and tools.
The advantages of the profession include the following factors.
- Great contribution to the preservation of cultural heritage. This is especially true for those professionals who work in museums.
- Regular creative activity, which involves learning something new and interesting.
- An opportunity to develop professionally.
- High earnings, especially when working with genuine things that once belonged to noble people. After restoration, some pieces of furniture are sold for millions of rubles to the personal collections of wealthy individuals.
From disadvantages work, of course, it is worth noting the high risk of spoiling the product, the painstaking work done, as well as the generally complex and lengthy restoration process that requires great professionalism and time.
High responsibility can also be attributed to the disadvantages, because it psychologically puts pressure on people while working with expensive, exclusive and antique things.
Specializations
Restorers have different specializations in accordance with what a particular specialist does. But it is also known that many specialists work together with each other, because often, even on a seemingly simple question, it may be necessary to consult a restorer with the greatest experience.
There are restorers who specialize in scientific work as well as those who work on a commercial basis. In the first case, restoration involves a huge amount of work. In the case of scientific activity, objects are restored from the inside, but from the outside, on the contrary, people see traces of past years, the renewal of paint and the return of the former color in this case are usually not done.
As far as commercial activity is concerned, furniture restorers are most often engaged in it. It implies the restoration of the marketable appearance. With its help, you can get rid of minor imperfections on furniture, scuffs and other defects. Most of the restorers specialize in the restoration of old antique furniture, which in the process of use has lost its former qualities and has appeared noticeably damaged.
What qualities are required?
To become a professional furniture restorer, first of all, it is very important to love art, strive to always improve your knowledge and skills and not be afraid to learn something new. And the most the main thing is that you always need to learn and practice, improving your skills.
It is important for the restorer to be patient, diligent and ready for painstaking work. A professional must also be extremely attentive to all details, especially when working with antique pieces of furniture. It is equally important that the master can concentrate on the task assigned to him, and can also objectively assess the volume of restoration work.
How to become?
To be hired as a restorer, it is important to have an appropriate art education. An advantage when applying for a job will be a diploma of the availability of courses or a certificate of their completion at the history faculty of a specialized higher educational institution. Often at the beginning of mastering a specialty, basic training is sufficient, at least in one direction in the field of art.
Professional craftsmen almost never admit young graduates without experience to difficult jobs. In addition to obtaining a degree at the university, for beginners you have to practice for a long time, before you earn the opportunity to work with very fragile things. Despite the fact that furniture is quite difficult to spoil, unlike, for example, a painting, but with it there are difficulties in restoration. And also very it is important to gain experience by mastering all the subtleties of the work of existing masters. Unfortunately, many of the nuances of working with products are not taught in educational institutions.
The leading universities for the training of restorers are those located in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The term of study, as a rule, ranges from 2 to 6 years, depending on the direction and specialization.
It is also known that it is possible to become a restorer by graduating from college, but it is possible that the employer will pay less, citing the lack of higher education.
Where do they work?
Restorers very often work in museums, galleries and government agencies aimed at restoration... Often, the vacancies of restorers are available in private workshops, engaged primarily in commercial activities. Depending on the workplace and the actual amount of work per month, the salary of a restorer can be from 25 to 100 thousand rubles.
Summing up, we can safely say that restorer - this is a promising work with its own characteristics and difficulties, but if a person in his position gives everything one hundred percent, then he will certainly reach unprecedented heights in a creative career.
