Mark was born January 13, 1951, in Davenport, Iowa, to Dr. William Hugh Rendleman of Davenport, Iowa, and Muriel Libby Evans Rendleman of Chicago, who were residents of Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the time. Mark had one older sister, Sarah Jane Rendleman, born April 7th, 1947, who drowned in Oxnard, California, in 1974.

     Dr. Rendleman (a.k.a. "Doc") had been stationed at Holloman Airforce Base, N.M., because of his experience as part of the first crew sent into Hiroshima after the Bomb was dropped. Basically no one really knew much about radiation and its effects, so he was considered an expert (a.k.a. guinea pig). At one point the base was quarantined and Muriel (a.k.a. "Mimi") took off with Sarah and ended up spending the night at Bishop's Lodge, just north of Santa Fe. They fell in love with what was then a funky, dusty, poor adobe village, unlike any place in the USA, and made Doc move there. He gave up practicing medicine (except on friends and family) and started hammering nails at the going rate ($0.40 per hour) for Allen Stamm and Associates. He worked with Allen for about 15 years up until the effects of the Bomb overtook his health and he had to retire. Doc was a very serious, proud and intelligent man and a very strong and strict father.

     Mimi, from a humble family in Chicago, and the daughter of a minister, was the subject of several artists, and enjoyed being one of the most attractive women around, as well as a kind, loving and generous mother. Her life, following her nursing background, was centered on health and fitness and raising Sarah and Mark. She would swim a mile every morning after cleaning the house and preparing breakfast before waking the kids for school, up until her brain tumor and stroke partially paralyzed her when she was 45 years old.

     The Rendlemans lived a few years on Canyon Road, and Kathryn Place, then in a new Stamm home in Casa Alegre at 2004 Kiva Road. Then in 1958 they moved into a new home that Doc built for the Stamms at 125 Mateo Circle which Mark and the family still maintain as the family home.

     After kindergarten at Mrs. Applebee's , Mark attended his first three grades at Salazar. By chance, Mark was the very first student to enroll in E.J. Martinez where he studied through sixth grade. He attended junior high school through ninth grade at Harrington which was later torn down. He went away for high school at New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI) in Roswell where he graduated in 1968. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Washington where he received his Bachelors degree in Psychology and Art in 1972. He then received his Masters and Masters of Fine Arts degree at the University of California in Santa Barbara in 1974.

      Mark always succeeded in his academic work, staying within the top 10% throughout his academic career. At Harrington he was elected to be president of the Santa Fe chapter of the National Junior Honor Society. While at NMMI he received more awards than any other high school cadet including honorary scholarships. He was the only cadet who attended all three years to be named to every academic honors list for every semester, including Dean's List, Superintendent's List, Military Science List and Commandant's List, which means he did not receive one demerit while he was there. He was elected as both the Junior and Senior Class President and the class representative to the Honor Board all three years. He won the competitions for Best and Outstanding Cadet and the Outstanding Science Student Award. He was selected Regents Scholar and Student Rotarian of the Year and was the first Captain of the NMMI Ski Team.

      In college Mark also received honorary scholarships and a Regents Fellowship. He was a Lambda Rho Scholar and was elected to serve on the President's Advisory Board and as representative of the School of Engineering. He won numerous awards in his fields of Art and Psychology.

      He worked his way through school at a variety of jobs including: WSI Ski Clinic Instructor and Director, Psychology Lab Research Assistant, Instructor at the Experimental College, U.W., Art Model, Masseur and Massage Teacher, Art Lab Assistant, Teaching Assistant, Apartment Manager, and even a Lifeguard at the La Fonda and the Townhouse. During this time he also completed his first real estate transactions and rehabs.

      Mark enjoyed being a student, so after graduating he accepted teaching positions as an Art Professor at California State University in San Diego for two years and at Middlebury College in Vermont for four years . During this time, the 70's, Mark's Art career as a painter took off. He had numerous shows, mostly in California and New York, and won many awards at competitive exhibitions. With his earnings, Mark began his investing career, and most of his wealth has been generated in this way.

      Beginning in the late 70's, Mark created and developed several businesses in arts, entertainment, historical rehabs, and real estate. In Vermont he designed and built an arts nightclub called the Alibi at Starr Mill which he ran for seven years. It was during this time that he became increasingly involved in film, video, experimental music, and the performance arts, both academically and publicly. He worked mostly with colleagues and friends, such as: Bill Kirby, doing performances in Vermont; with long time companion from California, Nancye Ferguson, doing performances in Vermont and California; Beth Yancy, Ottmar and Stefan Liebert in Boston as a group called R.E.D.; and various others in New York City and Vermont. He worked as an art consultant or videographer on several music videos and experimental films as well as programs for TV.

      It was during this period that Mark was needing to fly back and forth to Santa Fe on a regular basis to care for his ailing parents. Doc's health was deteriorating to the point that he could no longer care for Mimi who had been an invalid since her brain tumor and stroke in the 60's. In the mid-80's Mark sold his businesses and home in Vermont and moved back to Santa Fe to care for his parents full time.

      In the process of investigating the possibility of creating a multi-media art center in Santa Fe, and while serving on a panel for the New Mexico Arts Division, Mark became aware of the Center for Contemporary Arts and decided it would make more sense to assist them in their work than to start from scratch. He was invited to serve on the Board of Directors, which he did for over eight years, including five years as the Treasurer and as chairman of the Mater Planning Committee. He was also one of the primary fundraisers and founders of the CCA Teen Project, now known as Warehouse 21.

      In 1986 Mark bought land in Embudo, on the Rio Grande, and began building his house and his underground cave sculpture known as the Caves. He also bought the Embudo Station which he renovated and developed in partnership with Preston and Sandy Cox into what it is today. He became involved with several charities that support environmental protection, including Amigos Bravos that fights for protection of New Mexico's rivers. He used his Embudo property for fundraising events and environmental awareness.

      After moving back to Santa Fe, Mark's life began to be more oriented around family and less on his work, and he had to stop painting altogether to fulfill his responsibilities. It was in the mid-80's that his daughters, Jasmine Moonfire and Tiffany Mia Rue (now Mia Barbosa), began visiting him in New Mexico, coming from their families on opposite sides of the Country. Mark had been able to know Jasmine as a child over a several year period when she and her mother Deborah Davidson moved to Vermont. But he had only met Mia and her family in California a few times up until she was a teenager. As teenagers Mia and Jasmine visited more and more until Jasmine and then Mia moved to Santa Fe where they now live. Mia and her Brazilian husband Rodrigo, who met while Mia was attending a University in Brazil, live with Mark in the Rendleman Family home.

      Leslie Drobbin, a friend from Boston, moved out to Santa Fe in the mid-80's. In 1990 they had a child together named Scarlet who is now attending E.J. Martinez where Mark went to school. Scarlet, Jasmine and Mia, and their extended families, have formed the center of Mark's life over the past several years, and have been the source of his joy and gratitude. They have also been the inspiration for what may be his greatest creation, the cave house in Embudo.

      Mark's early religious orientation came from a mix of his father's and grandmother's strong German Judaism background and his participation in the Episcopalian Church with his mother. But growing up in the sixties gave him a more eclectic Eastern orientation and not aligned with any particular church. It was not until Jasmine and Mia introduced him to their religion that he found the value of group practice and "church". This religion, with its center in Brazil, through a concentrated practice of questioning and examination, brought him to focus on his purpose and spiritual evolution, as he also witnessed for so many others, including his daughters. His primary recognition was that Man's ultimate duty or function is to care for the life of this planet. Mark had a clear vision that the most immediate and important need was to protect the forests, and in particular the Amazon, that are so quickly being destroyed by Man's unconscious and unnecessary consumption. He dedicated himself to this work, and started making regular trips to Brazil to research and work with a group within the church who is dedicated to the preservation of Nature in the Amazon. It is on these trips that he met his wife, Jocelma Coelho da Silva, from Manaus, Amazonas. They were married on September 24th, 1999, in Manaus. Upon returning from their honeymoon in Rio de Janeiro, Mark was arrested at the Albuquerque Airport on accusations of abusing his children.

     This brief history ends here, possibly offering more questions than answers. You may address questions or comments to: MER and we will try to respond.