Fumi died June 1, 2018.  We will always remember her as a dynamo of energy, creating huge paintings reminiscent of van Gogh and Munch, but totally Fumi.  Her encouragement of other artists was boundless, yet she always remained humble about her own work.

Fumi, as she was known by all who knew and loved her, was born in 1931 in the Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu Island, Japan. She was awarded a doctoral degree in Geology from Tokyo University in the field of metamorphic petrology. In the late 1960s, she and her husband, Dr. Miyashiro, worked for Columbia University, and in the early 1970s joined the Department of Geological Studies at SUNY Albany. Upon her retirement, she enrolled in the Nursing Program at Hudson Valley Community College and received her RN degree.
Then, she decided to devote her retirement years to painting, creating hundreds of large, insightful canvases reflecting her love of the work of Vincent Van Gogh, Edvard Munch, and Charles Burchfield. Here are a couple statements about her work in her own words:
“My paintings are my personal diary in which I do not have to pretend to be
otherwise. Sometimes they are joyous, contemplative, longing for the higher order,
and sometimes sentimental. Painting is my medium of dialogue with the general
public who are sensitive, but not especially trained in the art field. My paintings
are representational, because I want a dialogue between viewer and painter to
be fairly coherent.”
“Painting has never been easy for me. It often causes a feeling of miserable
failure and discouragement. However, I am gradually realizing that during my long
recesses in painting, I am unhappy and voiceless, and I feel spiritually empty if I do
not paint obsessively. Also I have gradually come to feel that I do not have to be
defensive or embarrassed about what I produce if I sincerely feel the need to
paint it. This is what keeps me painting.”

She once wrote that her wish was that “All will treasure many pleasant memories of her and not feel too much sorrow and emptiness.”