Professional History

President, Restorart Inc. — 1982 to present

Conservation and restoration services for the private, public, commercial, institutional, and corporate sectors.

President, Conservator’s Products Company (Canada) Ltd. — 1987 to 2015

Manufacturer, supplier, and distributor of high quality conservation products to institutional, commercial and private conservation laboratories.

Conservator / Restorer, private practice, Toronto — 1978 to 1982

Training, private practice, Montreal — 1975 to 1978

Accreditations & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CAPC,  Conservator, Specialization in paintings, Canadian Association of Professional Conservators, accredited 1994

PA AIC, Professional Associate, American Institute for Conservation, named 1995

CAHP, Professional Member, Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals, certified 1997

FIIC, Fellow of the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, elected 2020

Awards

Charles Mervyn Ruggles Award, CAC/ACCR: 2011

In recognition of outstanding contributions and achievement in fine art conservation science, treatment, training, and/or education; for development work in the field of fine art conservation in Canada; and for promoting the ethics and ideals expressed in the CAC/CAPC’s Code of Ethics and Guidance for Practice.

Project Highlights

The Estate of Kenneth R. Thomson and the Collection of David K.R. Thomson 

1996 to present
Treatment of art and artefacts in the private collections of Kenneth (since 1983) and David Thomson (since 1990). In the spring of 2003, accepted an invitation to represent their interests in conservation-related matters and issues regarding their collections, and to continue ongoing treatments of their remarkable Canadian and International art and artefacts holdings.

Kenneth R. Thomson Collection of Canadian Art, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto

September 2007 to December 2008
Assessment, treatment specifications, and treatment of over 650 Canadian paintings and European and First Nations artefacts from the collection of Kenneth R. Thomson in preparation for installation in the Frank Gehry designed galleries of the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Hockey Hall of Fame, CNE, Ron Satok Mural

August 2006
Design and implementation of preparatory and restorative treatments for the removal of the Ron Satok mural from the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Canadian National Exhibition grounds and its reinstallation into the newly constructed National Soccer Stadium.

George Reid and Doris McCarthy Murals, Toronto

April to December 2006
Condition survey, treatment design specifications, and treatment for the two painted mural suites at the Earlscourt Library, Dufferin St. and St. Clair Ave., Toronto, built in the early 1900s by the Carnegie Foundation.

St. Patrick’s Basilica, Ottawa

July to November 2003
Condition survey and treatment design for complete general interior conservation and restoration. Awarded contract to assemble and lead a highly skilled team of conservators, restorers, and technicians.

Eaton’s College Street, 7th Floor, Toronto

March to April 2003
Conservation and restoration of the four large-site specific Natasha Carlu murals in the Art Deco Round Room designed by Jacques Carlu.

York Theatre Murals, Montreal / Toronto

April 2002 to 2005
Complete conservation and restoration of three surviving Art Moderne murals, each 12' x 5', reinstalled into the Amphitheatre of the new Engineering and Computer Sciences / Visual Arts Building for Concordia’s Sir George Williams Campus in 2004.

Toronto-Dominion Bank, Vancouver

December 2002
British Columbia Pageant, Charles Comfort, 1951
Emergency assessment, treatment design, and implementation of the removal of this 64’ x 10’ oil on canvas mural from a building site slated for demolition.

Notre Dame Cathedral, Ottawa

February 1999 to January 2000
General Interior Restoration Project. Awarded contract to design and implement treatment protocols, and to assemble and lead a team of highly skilled conservators and restorers.

Library of Parliament, Ottawa

May 1998 to May 2006
Heritage Conservation Consultant for the Conservation, Rehabilitation, and Upgrade Project, 1998-2006, providing condition surveys, conservation strategies, and treatment specifications for the interior and exterior heritage elements, and advising the Joint Venture Group of Architects on conservation-related strategies and treatments.

Bank of Nova Scotia, Toronto

December 1999 to March 2000
Heritage conservation consultant for the emergency assessment and treatment design for the interior fire restoration project of the historically designated Main Banking Hall at 44 King St. West.

Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, Toronto

1996 to 2006
Conservation and restoration treatments of the portrait collection of commanding officers residing in the Officers Mess of Canada’s oldest regiment.

St. Anne’s Anglican Church, Toronto

February 1999
Conservation consultant and conservator providing emergency condition assessment and treatments to Group of Seven heritage wall murals.

Power Corporation, Montreal

June to October 1994
The Four Seasons, Claude Le Sauteur. 1994 Rotunda Walls, Head Office, Phase 1: Preparation and installation of four 12' x 6' oil on canvas murals, on specially designed and constructed simple-curved fibreglass panels. Rotunda Cupola, Head Office. Phase 2: Preparation and installation of four 12' x 11' and four 6' x 11' oil on canvas murals, on specially designed and constructed compound-curved fibreglass panels.

New City Hall, Toronto

May to November 1994
Toronto 1908, Owen Staples, 1913
Complete conservation and restoration of a 16' x 5' historical oil on canvas painting.

St. Anne’s Anglican Church, Toronto

June to August 1993
Conservation and restoration of interior structural plaster ornamentation, and emergency treatment of selected Group of Seven wall murals.

Currie Hall, Royal Military College, Kingston

June to August 1993
Designed by Percy Erskine Nobbs and dedicated in 1922. Complete interior conservation and restoration.

CIBC, 25 King St. West, Toronto

1991
The History of Transport, Arthur Crisp, circa 1920
Complete conservation and restoration of fourteen 16' x 9' and two 10' x 7' oil on canvas wall murals.

Toronto Stock Exchange, Toronto

1991
The Industries of Canada, Charles Comfort, circa 1930
Complete conservation and restoration of eight 16' x 5' oil on canvas stretched murals.

St. Paul the Apostle, Jusepe de Ribera, 1632

1990-1991
Discovery, complete conservation and restoration treatments, research and presentation to the public of this 51" x 41" oil on canvas painting.

Rape of the Sabine Women, after Pietro da Cortona, 18th century

1989
Complete conservation and restoration of this 9' x 13' oil on canvas painting, and the installation of a constant tension stretcher.

The Christening of Princess Elizabeth, M. W. Peters, 1790

1988
Complete conservation and restoration of this 10' x 14' oil on canvas painting from the historic Boydell collection, London, and the installation of a constant tension stretcher.

Research and Development

Conservator’s Stretcher™

Designed, developed and marketed a modified traditional wooden stretcher system under the trade name Conservator’s Stretcher™, manufactured in Canada using a renewable resource material (basswood), and distributed throughout Canada and the United States by Chaloria Wood Arts Inc.

Constant Tension Stretcher System

Development of a constant tension stretcher system for production implementation. Prototype feasibility studies currently underway to produce an economically viable continuous tension stretcher system based on U.S. Patent #4635700, a stress-responsive support system alternative for paintings.

Conservator’s Wax™

Design and manufacture of coating products for the conservation profession, including varnishes and wax systems, most notably Conservator’s Wax™, which is now available at Lee Valley Tools.

Publications and Presentations

Creativity and Conservation 

2013 Conference, St. John, Canadian Association for Conservation (CAC-ACCR)

Reflections on the Primacy of the Image in Connoisseurship and Conservation 

2010 Conference, Milwaukee, American Institute for Conservation (AIC)

Reflections on the Primacy of the Image and Authenticity in Connoisseurship and Conservation 

2009 Conference, Vancouver, Canadian Association for Conservation (CAC-ACCR)

Some Lining Techniques Using BEVA Solution and BEVA Gel: Notes from the Bench 

Journal of the Canadian Association for Conservation, Volume 27, 2002. Canadian Association for Conservation (CAC-ACCR)

The Examination and Analysis of the Interior and Exterior Decorative Elements of the Library of Parliament 

Joint paper presented at the National Gallery of Canada with Jane Sirois of the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI), Elizabeth Moffat (CCI), Kate Helwig (CCI), and Susan Stock of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) for the Conservation of Heritage Interiors — Symposium 2000, Ottawa, Canadian Conservation Institute

Treatment of a 17th-Century Madonna and Child Tondo, Attributed to Angelo Caroselli 

1994 Conference, Toronto, The International Institute for Conservation - Canadian Group

The Restoration of the Interior Decoration of Currie Hall, Royal Military College, Kingston 

Joint paper presented with Lily Inglis (Consulting Architect) and Professor Ian Hodkinson, Queen’s University (Conservation Consultant). 1994 Conference, Toronto, The International Institute for Conservation - Canadian Group

Ribera’s St. Paul: The Anatomy of a Discovery 

Joint paper presented with Professor Ian Hodkinson, Queen’s University, at the National Gallery of Canada. 1992 Conference, Ottawa, The International Institute for Conservation - Canadian Group

Treatment of a 10' x 14' 18th-Century Historical Painting and the Installation of a Continuous Tension Stretcher 

1989 Conference, St. John’s, Newfoundland, The International Institute for Conservation - Canadian Group