A death

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Diane Mary
Falvey in Perth, Ontario, on Feb. 12, 2014, following a short battle
with cancer. Diane was a respected art conservator, working actively
in Canada and the United States.  She was born in Toronto, Ontario
on October 30, 1950 and leaves behind her loving husband Greg Farrow
and her son George Somerwill. Diane attended the Ontario College of
Art, studied at the Central Research Laboratory for Objects of Art
and Science, Amsterdam, Holland and studied Fundamental Principles
of Conservation, at the International Centre for the Study of the
Preservation and the Restoration of Cultural Property, (ICCROM)
Rome, Italy.

After her studies, Diane brought back to North America the benefits
of shared developments in conservation at a time when international
exchanges of information were an important part of the still
formative stages in the field.  She published articles and presented
papers on her findings internationally, including in the ICOM
conferences in Ottawa 1981 and Copenhagen 1984, and the AIC and CAC
conferences in 2008.  Her broad range of practical, theoretical and
scientific knowledge was combined with an outstanding commitment to
high standards of practice. During her years of work in conservation
she would often partner in research with colleagues at Westlake
Conservators in Skaneateles, New York investigating painting
conservation procedures--lining techniques, cold lining and sharing
the work of V.H. Mehra with colleagues in America.

Diane Falvey worked in the field of art conservation in all possible
avenues--museum work, research, private practice, contractual work,
and scientific study--for 35 years.  She held positions of
Conservator at the Canadian Conservation Institute in Ottawa, ON, at
the Vancouver Art Gallery in BC, at Westlake Conservators in New
York state and at the private lab ArtCare Conservators in Vancouver
with sculpture conservator Andrew Todd.

As Susan Blakney, CEO and founder of Westlake Conservators recalls:

   "our careers took us in various directions but we both had sons
    about a month apart, she in France and I in Syracuse. One of my
    favourite photos is us in our nightgowns holding our
    two-year-olds. We remained life-long friends and conservation
    buddies. Diane was dedicated to preservation and always shared a
    wealth of information as we encouraged each other to continue
    our practical research of supporting fragile paintings on
    canvas.  I will miss her dearly and feel her dedication to our
    field and early passing is truly a loss."

Always energetic, Diane in her mid-life, took an 11 year break from
conservation to satisfy her deep interest in the emerging field of
permaculture--growing vegetables using sustainable methods.  A
remarkable example as a lifelong learner, she completed a B Sc.
degree in ecological agriculture at the University of British
Columbia in 2001, and taught/consulted in permaculture in the USA in
Oregon and California and in Zimbabwe, Africa.  At the time that
Diane fell ill, she was operating Stony Brae Farm in Wemyss Ontario,
with her husband Greg, balancing this commitment with contract work
in paintings conservation at the National Library and Archives in
Ottawa, ON.

Diane Falvey brought great enthusiasm to all of her endeavours and
will long be remembered by her conservation colleagues and friends
in Holland, the USA and in Canada.  Her charm, exuberance and her
passion for life will be greatly missed.

Sarah Spafford-Ricci
Principal Conservator of Fine Art
Fraser Spafford Ricci Art and Archival Conservation Inc.
2276 134 Street
South Surrey
British Columbia, Canada


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 27:33
                   Distributed: Monday, March 3, 2014
                       Message Id: cdl-27-33-001
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