5179 Wheelis Drive
Memphis, TN 38117
901.590.3008

Charles Ivey

Artist Bio

Except for living a few years in southern California and the desert southwest Charles has spent his life in Tennessee, at either end of the state. Charles has created art in just about every medium from welding steel to photography. Charles works in encaustics. Inspiration for his work includes antiquated architecture and rust patterns on metal.

Charles is process driven and rarely has an idea of the final outcome when he starts a painting. His process begins with applying encaustic paint to the board and then he "works" the surface through various techniques that he has discovered over the years. This is where his work becomes truly unique. The process that he uses is one of applying layers of paint and then removing certain aspects of the layers in order to finally reveal the finished piece.

Encaustic is pigmented pharmaceutical grade bees wax and damar resin. The encaustic paint must be kept in a molten state on the palette. As soon as it is applied to the painting the wax begins to dry. Periodically throughout the painting, the layers of wax must be fused with a torch to the other layers. This is a very laborious process but Charles believes the results are worth it.

He uses cradled panel exclusively as the support for his art. This adds another dimension to his work. The panels are created by a master craftsman who uses furniture grade plywood in their construction. Charles believes that using this high-grade structure enables the finished piece of art to achieve an even higher level of quality.

In his work, he focuses on textures and meshing of color in the finished pieces. Charles states, "The two things that excite me the most about my work are the colors and depth that I am able to create."

Although Charles has a degree from The University of Memphis in Accounting, he has chosen art as his life's calling. His artwork has been sold to individuals all across the United States, and Japan.

Charles Ivey currently lives in Memphis with his wife, son, and three dogs.

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