Doris Staffel Malarkey, 91, acclaimed artist, teacher

Doris Staffel Malarkey, a highly praised artist and teacher and a devoted Buddhist and mother, will have her life celebrated at the Arch Street Meeting House on Friday, Nov. 1.

Known professionally as Doris Staffel, she died of coronary artery disease Sept. 13 at her Society Hill home at age 91.

Born Doris Blitman in Brooklyn, N.Y., Mrs. Staffel started drawing at age 3, and painted up to three weeks before she died, said daughter Megan Staffel.

"As long as she could paint, she felt energized and excited about life," Staffel said.

She said her mother's favorite paintings to do in the last year of her life were small watercolors with geometric shapes.

"She loved the fact that she could still work. These pieces were very playful," she said.

A majority of her works were abstract and deeply influenced by Buddhist philosophy.

Many of her paintings and drawings were symbolic, but she also had many works in which clear figures emerge. Often colorful and whimsical, she inspired many students at the University of the Arts and elsewhere. A retrospective at the Woodmere Art Museum last year, "Doris Staffel: Painter, Teacher," was well-received.

Her work was showcased at other galleries as well, including the Philadelphia Art Alliance, the Rosenfeld Gallery, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

As a teacher, Mrs. Staffel instilled passion in her students.

Betsey Batchelor, a painting and drawing professor at Arcadia University, was a student of Mrs. Staffel's at the University of the Arts in 1972, when it was known as the Philadelphia College of Arts.

"As a teacher, she was intense in the best possible way. She always spoke with great intention," Batchelor said, adding that she was known for her instruction methods.

"She often spoke in the form of a metaphor, which left students with something to chew on," Batchelor said.

Mrs. Staffel taught at University of the Arts from 1957 to 1990.

Her teaching methods were influenced by Buddhism, Batchelor said. She recalled struggling with a painting in class once and hearing Mrs. Staffel softly say: "When you have a necklace and it has a knot in it, you don't yank at it."

"It made me think of how it related to how I was experiencing my painting," Batchelor said.

Mrs. Staffel graduated from Tyler School of Art in 1944, and the following year she attended graduate school at Iowa University.

She married Rudolf Staffel in 1944, and they were together until divorcing in 1981. She was married to Neil Malarkey from 1982 until his death in 1992.

Mrs. Staffel became a Buddhist around 1968. She was interested in the philosophy of death and rebirth and was also attracted to Eastern art.

Mrs. Staffel met a group of people who were studying with a Tibetan monk. She started going to meditation sessions held at different people's houses, Megan Staffel said.

"She was able to talk to people in a way that made them feel understood by her," Staffel said. "She had a wonderful sense of humor. When she talked about things, she commanded the audience."

Besides daughter Megan, Mrs. Staffel is survived by another daughter, Abby Buchanan; her brother, Howard Blitman; and four grandchildren.

The memorial will be at 2 p.m. Nov. 1 at the Arch Street Meeting House, 320 Arch St., in Old City.

Gifts in her memory can be given to the Chenrezig Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia, 915 N. Spring Garden St., No. 15, Philadelphia, Pa. 19123.