Born in Lookout Mountain, TN, in 1964, Roger Lee Ivens (soon to be nicknamed Ab the Flagman), became fascinated with flags after his father’s full military funeral where the casket was draped with a flag. Showing an early interest in art, he asked an elementary school teacher to explain the word 'abstract’ which prompted his classmates to nickname him “Ab”. At age seven, at his father’s funeral, the image of the flag draped coffin was to have a profound and lasting effect on his art. He worked as a carpenter assembling his flags after hours from leftover scraps of wood and other found objects creating his signature three dimensional red, white and blue American flags as well as American eagles and other patriotic subjects. He began devoting himself full time to his art in 1995 and since then has been widely exhibited and collected.