ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: May 2023

Chris Perez is an illustrator, painter and self proclaimed “Jack of all trades” hailing from Tucson Arizona. He has a passion for customizing and adding his creative touch to everything from painting, illustration, photography, woodworking, sewing & sculpting. He’s always been creative and talented in the art department, but it was not until high-school when he developed an interest for graphic design, photography and web development at that point he quickly decided he would pursue creative work as a career. He moved to California to work with clothing companies as an in-house artist and web developer and shortly after was laid off during the 2008 recession which pushed him to freelance. He was able to work with various record labels, musicians, apparel companies, dispensaries and festivals during this time.

His experience as a freelancer gave him a behind-the-scenes look at various industries which really got his gears turning. “The way I see it. I could spend time working on building other peoples brands up, or I could start watering the grass on my lawn so to speak.” After honing his design and illustration skills for over a decade, he started a collaboration with Chelz Franzer in 2017 to start “The Paint Sesh” a company that instructs painting events throughout Riverside and Southern California. This gave him the freedom to work from home when he wasn’t instructing as well as some extra time to focus on his personal art endeavors. This free time is what led him to creating his own art under Higher Blend. It’s an eclectic mix of his various illustration styles which he makes stickers, metal pins, buttons, trays or prints out of. He’s even recently taken up sewing to bring his illustrated pieces into your everyday life with bags, coin pouches and lanyards. In his free time, he likes taking on collaborations with other artists or brands to bring his art to the masses. Some of his other hobbies include bike riding, hiking and the art of bonsai.

For more information visit Chis at higherblend.com, www.etsy.com/shop/higherblend, or @higherblendart on IG