Rod Ivey, born in Harlem in 1950 and raised in the Bronx, has lived in New York City all his life. While a toddler, his father Dwellie, was his early artistic influence and studied oil painting at the Art Students League. Rod started using watercolor while at Howard University with Lois Mailou Jones as his professor and oils at the City College of New York under Charles Alston, while attaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in 1975

In the 70s, while working as a display person for Macy's and a graphic artist for IBM, he created Gateway Designs, which produced and distributed his greeting cards, and was featured in Black Enterprise Magazine. While a resident artist for the off-off Broadway theater companies of Rosetta LeNoire's Amas, Vy Higginsen's Reach Productions, the Frank Silvera Writers' Workshop, Vivian Robinson's AUDELCO, and as assistant publisher of Black Mask Magazine, he also developed
posters, graphic identity, and logo designs for theater showcases before their Broadway debuts. These showcases included "It's So Nice to be Civilized," "Innocent Black" and "Mama, I Want To Sing." 

In 1980, he married visual artist Jennifer Ivey. Today, they exhibit together and as members of the Long Island Black Artists and the Weusi Artists Collective. They have two sons and currently reside in Hollis, Queens. 'I prefer working from photos with quick-drying acrylics to create large canvas collages."