IVORY
KEYES
AVIAN ARTIST
Artist Statement
Since I was a child I’ve always loved birds. The gracefulness and colors, as well as their ability to fly, has always fascinated me. As a child I would spend hours “talking” to the birds in our yard. I’ve always felt a spiritual connection to them.
I chose birds as my subject to paint because of the spiritual energy that I feel from these beautiful winged wonders of nature. I try to capture the beautiful and delicate nature of songbirds, as well as the sometimes fierce and forceful nature of hawks and eagles. I see the different aspects of birds as a link to our own nature and personalities.
I believe birds symbolize our desire to reach heaven and spiritual awareness. Sometimes our ability to connect with the spirit world is hampered by our “Earth” beliefs and we are locked in our need for things to be concrete or factual. We often don’t allow our spirit side to fly free, which keeps us tethered to the physical plane. Birds show us that we must break free of Earth’s gravity and its physical needs and embrace the power of flight and therefore fly free with the spirits.
Ivory Keyes Bio
Ivory Keyes was born and raised in Norman, Oklahoma and until recently has lived there her whole life. A woman of many talents, Ivory has been a Fitness Consultant, a Pet Masseuse, a Life Coach and a Spiritual Advisor as well as an artist. Her interest in art began at an early age, as she would often draw portraits of her family members and particularly her pets. She was mostly fond of doing paintings of birds and this was a subject she mastered quite early.
Her love of art and her desire to become an artist led to her studying at the University of Oklahoma. Majoring in painting Ivory worked diligently to improve her skills as a painter. But after a couple of years she became tired of academic life and decided to leave school, give up painting and to pursue other interests.
After years of drifting from one career to another Keyes decided that it was time to get back to that thing she loved best in her past life and that was painting. The subject she chose to take on once again was the thing she had loved so much as a child, the subject of birds. The connection she felt with birds was almost spiritual and she finally felt fulfilled as she devoted all of her time to painting. Ivory has truly captured the essence of these fine and majestic creatures of the air and her paintings are in collections worldwide.
Ivory Keyes currently lives near her close friend and art representative Kevin Stark. Her work can be seen in his gallery, Stark Art in downtown Pauls Valley, Oklahoma.