about kevin perez Born in Southern California to a family of artists. His mother is a classically trained soprano of whose talents were completely absorbed by Kevin's flamenco guitarist brother. His father, an industrial designer, passed down his talent of the visual arts to Kevin. He spent a lot of his childhood flipping through pages of Dad's design annuals and swatch books. Started mimicking his father drawing, and soon developed an infatuation with the visual arts at an early age. His parents encouraged him with stacks of newsprint and bins of colored pencils. By age seven he was placed in a gifted minor program focused on the creative arts. Although his early childhood was spent in Southern California, Kevin lived briefly in West Africa and finished secondary school in Northern Virginia (just outside of Washington D.C.). He returned to his hometown to study fine art/illustration, and then continued to Chicago to study light metal sculpture. Kevin picked up freelance design work creating corporate identity and (in the early days of the internet) created hand-coded web pages for "new media" design firms. His passion for painting and illustration simmered while he paid the bills. In the spring of 2001, he met Lilian, an artist who shared the same passion for painting as he. They partnered to open an art-focused boutique centered around their paintings and handmade objects from similar designers. They chose ispirato, the Italian word meaning "to be inspired", as a name for their shop. Their eye for colour and design quickly drew clients ranging from passers-by to interior designers nationwide. Inspiration for their paintings is drawn from a joy of life, Kevin's 11-year-old daughter Kyra, and Lilian's cute lop-eared bunny named Mocha. Main influences on their style come from mid-century artists and designers. They tend to always be looking over each other's shoulder for ideas, and share similar, if not the same, palettes of colour. Today, Kevin continues to manage ispirato, paints continuously, and has recently completed a couple episodes on HGTV's kidspace (designing a room for a young family with toddlers, and a family with three fascinating boys).