Spending most of his life in Tennessee, Charles Ivey has created art in just about every medium, from welding steel to taking photos. Ivey currently works in encaustic—a form of painting that combines pigment with hot beeswax and natural resin. He has done recent work in acrylics and Venetian plaster. Regardless of medium, Ivey creates truly unique pieces through various techniques and rarely approaches his work with any idea of the outcome. He begins by applying layers of paint to the canvas or board, then "works" the surface by moving and removing aspects of the layers to reveal the final piece. During this process, his primary focus is texture and the merging of colors. "The two things that excite me the most about my work are the colors and depth that I am able to create," says Ivey. He is inspired by antiquated architecture, rust patterns on metal, and other artists, particularly Mark Rothko. Ivey currently lives in Memphis with his wife, son, and four dogs.