Marilyn Marks Fleming

i knew she had cancer but i never saw this notice until tonight. i wish i had lived closer to berkeley but her help with my thesis as my advisor, made it possible to finish my masters degree at sac state. i came to her encaustic exhibits as often as i was able. i wish i had been able to tell her more of my own story but until recently i was not able to. i know she would have appreciated it. she was one of a handful of people fom that time in my life, i wish i had spent more time with. thank you mari for being in the world. she knew me under a different name. m.l.bell

Mari was my teacher and my inspiration for becoming an art therapist. She was always there for me. Her love and kindness will always be remembered. I am so glad I had the opportunity to meet such an incredible woman. Mari's beauty emanated from a heart that had no boundaries when it came to caring about others. I will truly miss this amazing teacher, art therapist, and artist.

Dr. Anna Riley-Hiscox
Sacramento, CA

I will miss you Mari, your creative energy and talents, the time we shared in a studio after our workshops with Elaine Badgley Arnoux in the 80s, the concerts of Jerry w/you at his side and more... thank you for being part of my life and so many others.

In the 1960's Mari Fleming and her family moved into the house next to ours, it was as if we now had soul-mates for neighbors. We all were in and out of each other's houses. Often after school, my sister or I might be at Mari's, and then it would get to be dinner time so my mother would sent which ever child was at our house over to their house to bring the missing one home. Instead the second sibling would get involved in whatever exciting was happening at Mari's and then my mother would have to call to get us sent home. When David Fleming was born, Mari would bring him over to our house for lunch with my mother while the rest of the children were at school. My mother, Carol Becker, and Mari had similar spirits, a particular kind of lightness or perhaps, luminosity. It was in their eyes, their movements and timbre of their voices. They really appreciated each other as women (who were so often isolated in those days) and as mothers. Mari also said that my mother opened her eyes politically. In 1968, during the riots in Washington DC after Martin Luther King was assassinated and tanks were out on the streets, they went together downtown to help protect and comfort the children who were getting caught up in the chaos. When Mari came into my life I was a teenager, imagining what it would be like to be a woman. My mother was, of course, my first model. But Mari was ten years younger than my mother, more specifically focused on her art, so she seemed more exciting to me. And for a time she was my art teacher. What I remember is working with Mari on glazing technique, of building up color using thin coats of pigment, one over the other. While I'm not a visual artistI'm a poetI feel that what Mari taught me then has also had an impact on how I work as a poet. The importance of building up images by layering, the effect of color, texture and field.

Mari was my professor and mentor, as she was to many of her students, in the graduate art therapy program at George Washington University. She followed in the footsteps of her mentor Professor Hanna Kwiatkowska. Both taught art therapy with a deep respect for the inherently healing aspects of creativity and an honoring of the art product as communication. Mari's passion as an artist and teacher inspired many of her students, including myself, to teach art therapy to more generations of students. Several became directors of programs in places across the country. And now, some of our students have become professors, following in our footsteps. Thus, Hanna and Mari's legacy lives on, which I had recently mentioned to her. I'm so very grateful for our friendship of almost 30 years. Although we've lived far apart, I've always felt Mari's loving support in my life. I suspect that will continue. What a uniquely talented and beautiful soul whose physical presence will be sorely missed. I send my heartfelt condolences to Jerry and their family. Here in Florida, a memorial candle will be burning all day Saturday. I will be attending her service in spirit.

"Love and joy are forever entwined.
Be devout in joy and meet grief with courage."
(old German proverb, motto inscription for Schumann's Davidsbündler Dances, a wedding gift to his beloved Clara). I am sure Jerry shared these with you, dear Mari. You brought so much joy to so many, you will be deeply missed.

How glad I was to have known Mari. Her spirit, kindness and talent were much appreciated. You have my deep sympathies. I know she will be very missed.

Robin...your classic photo is wonderful!!
Mari, so beautiful on the outside, and even more on the inside....beaming beauty and art..and heart... to so many... so generously...we are deeply grateful for your being and being a part of our lives.
Richard Ehrenberger

I am so sad that Mari passed away. I send my deep sympathy to you, and wishes that her memory will live on in the hearts and minds of those who knew and loved her. Also that her artwork will be see by many, as a special part of her being remembered.

Will really miss Mari, her genuine warmth and sparkling spirit and her absence will be felt sorely in the yoga class we shared for more than a decade. The amazing courage and grace she exhibited in the six years of her battle with cancer, keeping up her artwork and her yoga practice and even then bothering to ask how I was doing, is an inspiration for me in leading life.

Mari & Jerry in 2007

My favorite picture of my mother, I think it's from her senior year in high school-- a real beauty! -Robin

I will deeply miss Mari and all that we shared as artists and sgi members as well as sharing my practice of jin shin jyutsu energy/body work with her. A remarkably strong inspiring woman whose gentle loving spirit and immense wisdom will be a loss to all of us.