Diane Dathe

San Francisco

Acrylic & Collage

Chairs

Acrylic

Joy

Acrylic

Portrait

Acrylic

Purple Trees

Acrylic & Collage

Texas Sky

Acrylic

Ethreal Girl

Acrylic  & Collage

Love to Climb

Acrylic

Diane Dathe, Artist Extraordinaire

October 31, 1948 – April 4, 2016

Look up at the ceiling when you walk through Cribari Lobby, and you will see an example of the art Diane contributed to The Villages.  Diane made the three-flower light panel on her living room floor when she and Margot Paoli were commissioned to redecorate and update the lobby's lighting, rugs, chairs and colors.  Diane also persuaded Jim Paradis to donate one of his Calder-styled mobiles to The Villages.

Visit the Art Room in Cribari Center to see the results of three years of planning when Diane and Barbara Gottesman redesigned the all white locker storage room into the beautiful purple and wheatgrass Art Room.  Diane hung the permanent collection of art on the purple wall to show off the work of our famous teachers and Arts & Crafts artists who have greatly contributed to art in The Villages.  Member-made counter tiles and a shelf to display ceramics were among the innovations.

Those who have been students with Diane in  Collage and Design classes have seen examples of her mastery of design and collage and her artistic thought processes as she created these works of art.  Many Villagers have had the pleasure of Diane using her interior decorating degree to redesign their home spaces with her expertise.

As Special Events Chair, Art in the Park director and Potluck Dinner Director, Diane came up with innovations we still use.  She had the great idea of 3 D table art as the major attraction for the Members Potluck Dinner in September.  Her art skits and community projects still amaze us.  

For five years, Diane chaired the quarterly exhibits of members' art in Cribari Center. Her processes for art jurying are still in place.  When she and Barbara persuaded Caspian Village to move to just outside our gates, Mo took her advice on colors and also let us exhibit our art at Caspian for three years. At the invitation of the Board of Directors, Diane began the practice of exhibiting art in the clubhouse lobby.

Two art works do symbolize what Diane has meant to us.  Her huge cloth mural and sculpture decorated the 2009 Holiday Faire:  “The Giving Tree.”  Her first blue ribbon in the 2007 Art Show was for her acrylic painting “Joy.”    Joy is what Diane brought to all who knew her, in life and in art; and Giving is what she did.

Diane lost her valiant three year fight against cancer. Diane is survived by her husband Ben and her daughter Kelley Batey,  sisters Rebecca and Kathy, and step children Greg, Matt and Stephanie.  Her son Greg Faulkner predeceased her. Helen Diane Dathe was born in Birmingham, Alabama and earned her degree in Interior Design at the University of Texas.  Her family had a private celebration on April 10, and we had a celebration of her life and art  on April 17 for all her artist friends.  She is already greatly missed by all of us.

Requiescat in Pace, dear friend.                                                                               

By Barbara Gottesman