Except for living a few years in southern California and the desert southwest Charles Ivey 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 is currently working in acrylics and Venetian plaster.   Inspiration for his work includes antiquated architecture, rust patterns on metal, and other artists’ work such as Mark Rothko.

Whether he is working in Venetian plaster, encaustic, or acrylics, once the paint is on the board or canvas 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. 

He uses cradled panel exclusively as the foundation for his Venetian plaster pieces. 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 in accounting, he has chosen art as his life’s calling.   His artwork has been sold to individuals all across the United States, and he also has clients as far away as Japan.  Charles believes that the freedom abstract expressionism affords him is why he paints in this style.  He states “I want the viewer of my art to have as few as possible constraints placed upon them by the artist.”  Art is more of an emotional experience for Charles and his work clearly exemplifies this.

Artist Statement

Charles Ivey focuses on creating art primarily through three mediums: acrylics, encaustics, and Venetian plaster. In his new series, Contemporary Part I, the unusual and fascinating abstract results are colorful, exuding a depth of texture. With an appreciation for texture and natural elements, Ivey's process involves applying layers of paint to a board or canvas and then removing certain aspects of the layers. Using such tools as razor blades to paint scrapers, he reveals his desired effect. Encaustics are particularly complex, using pigmented molten wax. When using Venetian plaster, Ivey's custom mix returns to a solid state as soon as it is removed from the heat, allowing the artist only a few seconds to make a brush stroke. “When everything is flowing (ideas, technique, and xternal distractions,” says Mr. Ivey. “Using the different mediums and textures affords the meshing of color in the finished pieces. What excites me most about my work are the colors and depth.”