Today we’d like to introduce you to Irene Sperber.
Hi Irene, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Growing up in Maine in the 50’s/60’s I knew there was a lot more out there and I wanted, needed, more than my own back yard. Did I ever have a concrete plan? No, of course not, but a vision and a passion to make life interesting and creative was not to be ignored. Mission accomplished. I lived in Hong Kong and London throughout the 1980’s, taking full advantage of the specific arts and culture of those countries. I earned a degree in Ikebana which I loved, participating in the International Ikebana Exhibitions before moving to London, taking a stab at British watercolors which I was woefully unsuited for. I do not possess the light hand for their watercolor techniques, making my own paintings uncharacteristically and unacceptably bold.
Easing into photo/pastel collage, I found a good niche combining the two imperceptibly to create a new vision. Repatriating to Miami in 1994 I exhibited photography in various galleries in the U.S.
I knew I would write when I was “older”. Well, here I am, older, and indeed picked up writing. Posting art reviews for online magazines (miamiartzine.com) keeps me in the loop of what’s what and where.
Over the past few decades I’ve poked into as many off the grid venues as I can find, now in the process of completing a travel memoir with a working title of “Just passing Through, a Memoir From the Far Side”. I like quirky and not overly cosseted, if possible. Toss in some good hiking and happy.
I’ve contributed stories of my wanderings and observations in several anthologies including two publications by the Women Writers Group of South Beach, including designing the covers. Boredom is never my companion.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No road is smooth.There’s been speed bumps, but that’s what living is. I realized early, that my order of an interesting life came with all the roller coaster highs and lows. Just hang on and keep your eyes open for what there is to learn, whether you want to know it or not. Too bad, you put an order into the universe, you get the product. I lost people to ills of the day, security could be unassured, but at no point was I in danger. I kept my head on straight, was smart.. . . enough. . . and did not succumb to destructive tendencies. I’m still fully functional and still in the game.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I always made things, mostly self taught. I found an ancient sewing machine as a child and sewed myself the hippy clothing that did not yet exist in Maine in the 60’s . . . but I had to have. Knitting, Crocheting, macrame, painting, woodworking, pen and ink and charcoal drawings, toss in photography and writing, all found their way into my day to day life. I suppose now I’m most known for my writing, a turn of phrase and occasional foray back into hand work. I did learn in the past several decades to stay true to my ideas and ideals and all would work out. Amazing how being your authentic self works better. Why it can take so long to figure out is beyond me.
What were you like growing up?
I was quiet but resolute. Told to be quiet and polite ( I was a girl after all), I had a busy inner life that was not quiet and polite which I allowed out with the right (or wrong) people. Living on five acres of apple orchards, the kids that lived in proximity were out every day in hot, cold, rain, hale, snow, mosquitoes . . . didn’t matter. We only came home to eat, do our homework and sleep. Skinned knees and nature were our toys. We built igloos in the winter and tepees in the summer with whatever was around. Finding a box of old ball gowns in a box in the two story old barn, I sewed us kids matching outfits and stage curtains and we charged our parents to come see us lip sync in the second floor of the old barn to latest 45 records on a record player scored from Green Stamps our Mom got from grocery shopping. I made my version of apple cider in a rusty old bucket filtered through a found rag, I have no idea how I survived. I did homework in record time as my older brother, a much better student, chewed his pencil to the nub making sure his hours and hours of homework paid off. The teen years I found I also liked being a girl, as long as it wasn’t too cloying. My generation was the ’60’s and a whole new world opened. We read Gloria Steinem and went to Consciousness Raising meetings. Aprons and fulfilling every desire of the menfolk did not follow my generation into adulthood. We all know how that worked out.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://miamiartzine.com
- Facebook: women writers group of south beach
Image Credits
All images courtesy of Irene Sperber
