About
It all started when…
It’s a Beautiful Life is a multilayered female owned business by Kayleigh Perez. Brought into this world in 2016 and formerly known as Flowering Flow Collective, this container has come to evolve and expand with me over time. It’s a Beautiful Life lays claim to its given name and serves as a reminder of the wonder of the world we live in. My belief is that creativity is a gift and a right we all possess with an infinite power to help us communicate, connect and process the intricate and immeasurable human experience. It gives us a channel and a method of exploring, expressing and reflecting what we hold deep inside of us (our inner worlds) just as well as it can do so for communicating life as we experience it (our outer worlds) and through creativity we can even step into the eyes of others. Art is a language of its own, and the process of creating it carries with it healing powers. It belongs to each and every one of us and absolutely no-one, especially once it has been created and begins a life of its own. When we are in the process of creating we are in communion with the Muse, tapping into our own unique code but once the ethereal has been anchored into the physical realm it becomes this entity entirely of its own - for each set of eyes that see or ears that hear, hands that feel something that has been created, will experience it differently than the next. It’s fascinating to me how powerful and immersive creating something can be, as I step into a project it engulfs me entirely.
Art has been a guide and a teacher for as long as I can remember, at times it has saved my very soul from ruin. Journaling, painting and dancing have been as therapeutic for me as nature and art + nature has been better medicine for me both physically, and mentally than anything this world has to offer. In a time in society so riddled with mental health problems, overstimulation and confusion I believe we need this more than ever. But art has always been needed. We wouldn’t know of our history and origins without the paintings cavemen left for us, the Renaissance era changed us as a species entirely, it is ART that has been the medium for propaganda that have changed the course of history in wars, art and creativity have blessed every thing you’ve experienced with any of your senses, and this is something I can go on about forever.
I began painting with my grandfather on my mother’s side when I was just a kid. We would write and sing songs while he played his instruments, draw on napkins in restaurants, paint on rocks and bottle caps, I mean anything we could get our hands on was fair game and it sparked something in me. He was in bands throughout his life and still plays music to this day. Little did I know he wrote poetry as well. I’m certain a lot of my love and introduction into who I would become came from his love of art and expression, as it still impacts me to this day. My grandmothers has the most intricate handwriting I have ever seen, and the most delicate, compassionate nature I have ever met. A literal saint on this planet. Her art is carried through the way she loves the world.
I would play dress up as all kids do and imagine worlds beyond mine, write stories that eventually won awards, started a band with my friends we called “The Cherry Chicks Club”. I did talents shows, I tried acting, modeling, and singing as a kid but was unfortunately (understandably) too much for my parents to keep up with while raising a family. Nonetheless these passions never left me. I was always always singing, writing, painting.
I was born and lived in Spain with my father’s side of the family where the great Dali, Picasso, Goya, Velázquez and so many more originated. Architectural masterpieces like the Sagrada Familia flood the senses as you roam the streets, many grand but deliciously characteristic in the smallest of details. In Spain we have many artistic languages, food being one of my favorite. I danced flamenco, and my grandmother on that side sings like you couldn’t imagine. My grandfather has acres of land he tends to where he has collaborated with Mother Nature to create the most exquisite offerings of fruits, vegetables, flora and fauna. They make their own jams, tomato sauces, even olive oil. They built their house to fit their vision. THIS is art.
EVERYTHING IS ART.
As I’ve grown older I have been influenced and shaped by my experiences and my art has always been a result of my expansion - in interests, ideologies, knowledge and more. It is how I converse with myself and study the Universe. College reconnected me with my path when I decided to take an art class and the rest is history. There I fell deeper in love with people and the human minds through psychology, philosophy, sociology. I spent almost 8 years on an AA for 3 reasons: I couldn’t settle for just one thing, I loved learning, and I didn’t know better at the time. Knowledge was all around me, for far less money. Now I know better.
I have since gotten to know many mediums. Painting, mixed media, pottery, jewelry, photography, graphic design, murals and spray painting, writing, body paint, merchandise and wearable/usable art, woodworking, resin art and music amongst some of them.
Some people have a niche, I have a way of living.
I aim to live as creatively, unapologetic and authentic as I can and hope to inspire others to do the same. To stay curious, open and playful. To find the rhythm of their own song and never stop dancing to it, regardless of who is watching. To never settle for less than all you deserve, or be anyone other than yourself. All that I want to give to this world is all that I receive. I am completely committed to the pleasure of my existence.
It has not always been the easiest path, but it is the only one I want to know. My life itself has been my greatest work of art, and living this way has afforded me freedoms to shed the layers needed to become the person I have always been. To see and truly know her, to love and cherish my individuality and see this in everyone I meet.
Wild would be a word to describe me. Adventure calls to my spirit as the restlessness rattles me if I’ve been still for too long, yet stillness itself is a superpower in and of its own. I have used adventure just as much as art as my conduit for understanding becoming. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the blessings I’ve been afforded to travel and see the world. Immersing myself in new cultures and ways of life, spending time with people with different ways of thinking. Spain, Belize, Hawaii, Portugal, Mexico, Canada, Israel, Dominican Republic, Haiti. Spending years on the road traveling to/from music and art festivals across all of America.
Saying yes to the call of my spirit. Yes to new things. Yes Universe, Yes - and Thank You. This simple act has opened doors for me I couldn't imagine. Fear is inevitable, but it does not have to run the show. Living openly and curiously will fulfill you in a way nothing else will.
Following my inner compass, listening and trusting the voice inside of me. Stepping into courage and taking leaps have been the best investments of my life. Growing as a person through my choices - with the rich history and impact of my ancestors, chasing the call of spirit, living in communion with the earth, immersing myself in culture, creativity, community. Community with the divine feminine women in my life has been a big impact. Community with plant medicine, community with the elements (earth, wind, fire, water), finding community within strangers on the street even.
This is just some of what begins to scratch the surface of what has shaped It’s a Beautiful Life.
“Isn't this Universe wildly fascinating? I am deeply inspired by the divine sense of creativity lurking inside each and every one of us, and a divine inclination to spread this truth. My aim is to share my fire with the world, my search for creativity is a lifelong quest. There are no words for how amazing it is to try and capture the immeasurable; color, movement, shape, light, depth, emotion, ideas and memories. How perplexing and enticing it is attempting to translate these perspectives and a lifetime of experiences into our dimension for you to enjoy, for you to feel, for you to wonder, question, connect. To me, everything about art is art. I'm just flowing with this life and the lessons it teaches me, desperately hoping to spread some light to those in my path, remind you of all things divine and provide art as a cure for all things not. I am here to quench an undying thirst to explore and expand my inner world, all the while uncovering and sharing the delicious secrets of the one I live in and all the magic held within it.”
(2016 Kayleigh)