Teresa Aten
"Reclaimed Treasures" - Mixed Media
Artist Reception: Saturday, Sept. 26 5:00 - 7:00 pm
On Display: September - October 2026
This show is available during business hours (Tuesday – Friday from 10 am – 5 pm) or on weekends by advance appointment only.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Teresa (Roberts) Aten is the daughter of Bob Roberts and the late Jean Roberts, formerly from Axtell, NE and that’s where she lived from 1963 to 1985. Teresa attended Kearney State College, now the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and graduated in 1984 with a degree in Elementary Education and Art Education. Her first year of teaching was in Hays Center, NE where she taught 4th grade for half a day and K-12 art the second half of the day.
In 1987 she moved to Elm Creek, NE after marrying Mark Aten. She taught Kindergarten in Elm Creek from 1987 until she retired in May of 2019. After retiring, she turned back to her love of the art world. It was during the COVID pandemic that she took some online classes from Jennifer Chamberlain where she became aquatinted with new art materials and techniques. She took a little she learned from each of the classes and eventually came up with her own “thing” which is creating whimsical dolls using a variety of repurposed materials and other items. One thing she really enjoys using in her work is repurposed pieces from broken or unwanted jewelry. It’s always fun seeing what the jewelry pieces can become in their second life and each piece she creates turns out so differently, depending on what items she has available to work with. After making seven or eight dolls, her husband asked what she planned on doing with all of them and her response was, “You know, I think I could sell them.”
In 2022 she started a small online business called A10 Creations by Teresa. (A10 = Aten) With posts on her Facebook page and Instagram, she has sold hundreds of dolls to people all over the United States and even Canada and the UK. It has been such a fun journey and has allowed her to get to know people from all over the world. In addition to the hanging and free-standing dolls, she also creates bookmarks, magnetic dolls, lapel pins and plant picks. She takes special requests from people and has created nuns, cowgirls, brides, grooms, police officers, hair dressers, teachers, mermaids, nurses, moms with their babies or small children, florists, robots and a variety of other characters. She also creates keepsake dolls for families using pieces of jewelry that belonged to a loved one.
Aside from the little characters she creates, she also enjoys mixed media art. She loves her flower gardens and so her artwork often involves some type of flowers. She continues to try to use repurposed items even for the mixed media projects including using repurposed picture frames if necessary and whenever possible. She likes finding unique frames and things to paint on to when creating her artwork. She also enjoys creating one of a kind Gelli prints and loves finding uses for vintage ephemera such as postage stamps, handwritten letters, receipts, bank statements and a variety of other unique papers.
Teresa and her husband have three children who are all married and live fairly close to the Elm Creek area. They are blessed with nine grandchildren who they love spending time with and who have been big admirers of her work.
Teresa and her mother, Jean, were co-creators of the Axtell Centennial logo and Teresa also designed the logo for Elm Creek’s Centennial. Teresa has also published a children’s book, Excuse Me, Sir, and is working on her second children’s book which will be finished in the fall of 2026.
