Robert Spicer
Conservation in Cultural Heritage, second year undergraduate level, University of Lincoln, England
During my BA in conservation of cultural heritage at Lincoln University, I started ponder my future and what kind of work I wanted to pursue once my studies were completed. My placement at SVK was a large part of my decision making, to focus on painted surfaces.
Over 2020 I spent around three months at SVK. While undertaking my placement, I was positioned in the paintings department working under Ann-Marie. I worked on a range of different painted surfaces. These included, canvas, furniture and architectural pieces. Work was performed in both a studio setting and in situ with an array of cultural heritage sites visited including a number of small provincial churches and large inner-city churches. The practical experience I gained working on real world objects was invaluable and allowed me to cement and expand on my theoretical knowledge of painted surfaces and really work on my skills required for paintings conservation. It also allowed me to become not only more confident in my own ability but also independent in the work I carried out. Working in such a cohesive environment also allowed me to gain experience in team driven exercises on multi-disciplinary objects.
The whole team at SVK were all so wonderful, it was a very valuable experience to work within such an experienced conservation team.
