Athena Workman lives in Tennessee, and is the married mother of two teenage daughters. For nearly two decades, she wanted to be a published horror writer, and accomplished that goal, but after the words dried up, she returned to her first love of art. She currently works with a variety of mediums: pencil and ink drawings, drawings decoupaged onto painted and decorated wood and canvas, photography, and one-of-a-kind odd art dolls.

She's attracted to the lonely, the weird, and things that live on the fringes of the imagination, but she doesn't find herself "reaching" for them—there's plenty of it in the world to just stumble across (with the exception of Sludge Monsters... who knows what universe they're from...) for inspiration. She has found that gloominess and humor are not separate entities, and fit together fantastically in unexpected ways. At the same time, her work is and whimsical without being trite.

The most satisfying thing for her as an artist is to be able to convey emotion without words; with just a few simple motions and sweeps of a pencil or pen, or formations of clay, a complete story or mindset can be imagined.

Athena (happier than she looks in this picture) and her older daughter at the ArtDocs fundraiser, October 2009, Nashville, Tennessee

 

Resume:

Solo Shows:
2008 : S.A.S. Solo Show, month of June, Starbucks, Hendersonville, Tennessee
2009 : solo showing, month of May, Bongo Java, Nashville, Tennessee
2010: "Outland" solo show, April 3-30, MIR Gallery, Nashville, TN

Group Shows:
1998 : Group art show at the First Universalist Society, Salem, Massachusetts
2007 : “Value Menu” group show, June 9-July 15, Plowhaus Artists' Cooperative, Nashville, Tennessee
2007 : “Where Does it Hurt?” group show, Untitled, June 15, The Essence Room, Nashville, Tennessee
2007 : “Tomato Art Show” group show (juried), August 11, Art and Invention Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee
2007 : “Gates of Hell III” group show (juried), October 6-November 5, Christoff Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2007 : “Day of the Dead” group show, October 27-November 11, Plowhaus Artists' Cooperative, Nashville, Tennessee
2008 : “Tomato Art Show” (juried), August 9, Art and Invention Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee
2008 : "Blue" (juried), October 1-November 4, 2008, Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, Kentucky
2008 : "Holiday Show", December, Art and Invention Gallery, Nashville, TN
2008 : showing with local artists alongside the "Winter is Soluble" feature at magpie etc., a gallery of sorts, December 13
2009 : "Barely Legal" group show, March 2009, Icon in the Gulch, Nashville, Tennessee
2009: Group show, June & July, Studio 83, Nashville, TN
2009: "Paducah Photo '09" group photography show (juried), July 17-August 29, 2009, Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, Kentucky
2009: "Tomato Art Show" (juried), August, 2009, Art and Invention Gallery, Nashville, TN
2009: "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" group show, October, 2009, (juried), MIR Gallery, Nashville, TN
2009: "Holiday Show", December, Art and Invention Gallery, Nashville, TN

Competitions:
1998 : Second Place winner, Amateur Art division, Topsfield Fair, Topsfield, Massachusetts (pen and ink with color)
1999 : First Place winner, Amateur Art division, Tennessee State Fair, Nashville, Tennessee (pen and ink with color)
2004 : Third Place winner, Amateur Art division, Tennessee State Fair, Nashville, Tennessee (pen and ink with color)
2006 : Honorable Mention, Amateur Art division, Tennessee State Fair, Nashville, Tennessee (digital art)
2006 : First Place, Amateur Photography division, Tennessee State Fair, Nashville, Tennessee (black and white with effects)
2008 : First Place, Professional Photography division, Tennessee State Fair, Nashville, Tennessee (portrait, black and white)
2008 : First Place, Professional Photography division, Tennessee State Fair, Nashville, Tennessee (portrait, color)
2008 : First Place, Professional Photography division, Tennessee State Fair, Nashville, Tennessee (still life, black and white)
2008 : Second Place, Professional Photography division, Tennessee State Fair, Nashville, Tennessee (special effects, black and white)
2008 : Second Place, Professional Photography division, Tennessee State Fair, Nashville, Tennessee (flowers, black and white)
2008 : Third Place, Professional Photography division, Tennessee State Fair, Nashville, Tennessee (humor, color)

Charity:
2006 : artwork donation to Nashville RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) benefit concert (silent auction)

Publications:
2006 : “West Virginia Sub-Urbania”, photography series, HeavyGlow e-zine
2007 : “Friendship”, photography series, HeavyGlow e-zine

Books:
“Trunkt Amazing Artists Series”, June 2008

Representation:
Art and Invention Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee
The Shiny Squirrel (online)
Trunkt (portfolio) (online)

 



Inspirations and Influences:

Beryl Cook
Mary Engelbreit
Roman Dirge
Sir John Tenniel
Jose Posada
Laurie Lipton
Gris Grimley
Crab Scrambly
Mercer Mayer
Edward Gorey
Lane Smith
Richard Bartram, Jr.
LeanneM
Stacy Taylor
...my daughters...

   
©2009 All content by Athena Workman. No content may be taken or reproduced without explicit permission of the artist.