Invite Morbid Smile Art as a vendor or presenter at your event!
Kelley M. Frank is a former English professor and currently works as a full time horror artist, photographer, and writer with her company, Morbid Smile Art. She has been an Atlanta area vendor since 2018 at indoor and outdoor festivals, conventions, and shows of all kinds.
Morbid Smile Art
Ink, Paint, and Watercolor with a Spooky Edge
Kelley M. Frank was the girl in her deep south school whose classmates thought she worshipped Satan because she read spooky and true crime books. Now she’s a horror artist, writer, poet, and photographer. She’s also a Horror Writer’s Association Affiliate, frequent panelist for local and online shows like Multiverse and Con-Tinual: The Con That Never Ends, asexual witch, cat lady, bone collector, and an outspoken advocate for the strange and unusual.
My art veers toward the unsettling and creepy cute, capturing her emotional states in her own spin on pop art and expressionist styles through a range of traditional and digital mediums.
Formerly a film reviewer for the Atlanta-based horror magazine Dead, Buried, and Back, she’s appeared in a number of horror anthologies including Slice Girls as an author and She’d also completed interior art, lettering, covers, and/or promotional graphics for various books including Zealot by C. Vonzale Lewis, Emporium of Superstition – An Old Wives’ Tale Anthology edited by Elle Beaumont from Midnight Tide Press, and Georgia Gothic: Stories from the Dark Side of the Deep South edited by Alex Hofelich, Vicki Greer, and Peter Adam Salomon from Southern Nightmares Press.
Her art also veers toward the unsettling, capturing her emotional states in her own spin on pop art and expressionist styles. Notable pieces include her occult-flavored Priestess paintings, and her detailed dinosaur illustrations. Her ADHD leads her to a variety of subjects and mediums including watercolor, ink, oil, soft pastel, acrylic, resin, bone, beading, yarn work, and digital illustration. Peek in her studio on any given day and you might find her working on a watercolor painting, drafting a poem, listening to an audiobook, and crafting black salt and bone witch bells at the same time.
Panelist
Professional Speaker and Panelist
Growing up in rural Georgia and watching the city grow up around her, Kelley witnessed plenty of creepy moments. She channels that sense of displacement, born of poverty and the relentless school bullying through grade school, in her work. She holds a Master’s in Composition and Rhetoric/Creative Writing and held a professorship for years before resigning to pursue her art full time.
She currently holds an Affiliate Membership with the Atlanta Chapter of the Horror Writer’s Association. She’s a regular attendee and panelist at conventions like Dragon*Con, MomoCon, and Anime Weekend Atlanta in the Atlanta area. Her special interests – death and burial, the occult, the Victorian era, fan culture, horror, and gender – translate to all areas of her work. Furthermore, her perspective as someone who identifies as asexual within the LGBTQ community offers a chance for added diversity on panels.
She’s done live (in-person and virtual) readings and discussions. Additionally, she has experience holding educational sessions for audiences and small classes at Clayton State University as part of their Continuing Education program.
Panelist and Vemdor events master list
I’m very excited to list my past and upcoming shows and festivals here for easy scheduling. Whether we’re bringing the artwork out for you to see in person or offering informative panels, this is the place to find my upcoming events or see if your event fits my schedule. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for more specifics about event days, times, and locations.
Upcoming for 2025
- AuthorFest, Atlanta, GA: March 29, 2025
Past Events
- NerdiGras, Atlanta, GA: February 28-March 2, 2025
- ConPossible, Atlanta, GA: February 7-9, 2025
- Middle Georgia Comic Con, Macon, GA: January 13-14, 2024
- “True Crime,” Con-Tinual Con: January 23, 2024 (virtual)
- Atlanta Comic Con, Atlanta, GA: February 9-11, 2024
- “Fangirl Portrayal in TV and Movies from Misery to Swifties,” Con-Tinual Con: March 5, 2024 (virtual)
- “Studio Ghibli,” Con-Tinual Con: March 12, 2024 (virtual)
- NerdiGras, Atlanta, GA: March 15-17, 2024
- Toylanta, Atlanta, GA: March 22-24, 2024
- “Comedy and Horror.” Con-Tinual Con: March 26, 2024
- “Writing True Crime,” Con-Tinual Con: April 2, 2024 (virtual)
- AuthorFest, Dalton, GA: April 6, 2024
- JordanCon & Art Show, Atlanta, GA: April 19-21, 2024
- “Friday the 13th,” Con-Tinual Con: April 30, 2024 (virtual)
- Strong Women, Strange Worlds quick read: May 3, 2024 (virtual)
- “Most haunted Cities” Con-Tinual Con: May 21, 2024 (virtual)
- Oconee Book Festival, Athens, GA: May 25, 2024 (virtual)
- “The Alien Franchise,” Con-Tinual Con: May 28, 2024 (virtual)
- Augusta Con, Augusta, GA: June 1, 2024
- “Jurassic Park,” Con-Tinual Con: June 11, 2024 (virtual)
- GA Pop and Horror Con, Atlanta, GA: August 2-4, 2024
- Oconee Library Fan Fest, Athens, GA: August 17, 2024
- GA Indie Book Fair, Atlanta, GA: September 14, 2024
- “Spotlight on the Multiverse Convention Interview”, Multiverse: September 16, 2024 (virtual)
- Next Chapter Con, Dalton, GA: October 5, 2024
- Multiverse, Atlanta, GA: October 18-20, 2024
- ConJuration 2024, Atlanta, GA: November 15-17, 2024
- Hood Street Mistletoe Market, McDonough, GA: December 8, 2024
- Middle Georgia Comic Con, Macon, GA: January 21, 2023
- Atlanta Comic Con, Atlanta, GA: February 24-26, 2023
- Days of the Dead, Atlanta, GA: January 27-29, 2023
- Toylanta, Atlanta, GA: March 24-26, 2023
- Oconee FanFest, Oconee, GA: April 1, 2023
- JordanCon, Atlanta, GA: April 21-23, 2023
- Con Carolinas, NC: June 2-4, 2023
- Middle Georgia Comic Con, Macon, GA: July 15, 2023
- Halloween Sale, WhatNot: July 23, 2023 (virtual)
- Georgia Pop and Horror Con, Columbus, GA: August 4-6, 2023
- Pop-Up Sticker Shop, WhatNot: September 13, 2023 (virtual)
- Multiverse, Atlanta, GA: October 19-22, 2023
- Monsterama, Atlanta, GA: October 27-29, 2023
- “Lois Lane Discussion Panel,” Con-Tinual: November 6, 2023 (virtual)
- “The Queer Erasure of The Joker”, Con-Tinual: November 11, 2023 (virtual)
- Conjuration, Atlanta, GA: November 17-19, 2023
- Nerdy Wonderland, Atlanta, GA: December 3, 2023
- Jingle My Bells Christmas Book Event: December 15-17, 2023 (virtual)
- CONjuration, Atlanta, GA: November 4-6, 2022
- Multiverse Con, Atlanta, GA: October 14-16, 2022
- Middle Georgia Comic Convention, Macon, GA: June 11, 2022
- JordanCon, Atlanta, GA: April 22-24, 2022
- Oconee Library Comic Con, Oconee, GA: April 2, 2022
- Toylanta, Marietta, GA: March 18-20, 2022
- CONjuration, Atlanta, GA: November 5-7, 2021
- Next Chapter Con, Atlanta, GA: October 2, 2021
- Monsterama Con, Atlanta, GA: October 8-10, 2021
- Multiverse, Atlanta, GA: October 15-17, 2021
- Atlanta Comic Con, Atlanta, GA: August 6-8, 2021
- 45th Annual Geranium Festival, McDonough, GA: July 31, 2021 (online)
- Lennox Pop-Up Art Gallery, Atlanta, GA: 24th July 2021
- Lennox Pop-Up Art Gallery, Atlanta, GA: 10 July 2021
- Middle Georgia Comic Convention, Macon, GA: June 5, 2021
- Callanwolde Artist Market, Atlanta, GA: 7-9 February 2020
- CONjuration, Atlanta, GA: 15-17 November 2019
- Walker-Stalker, Atlanta, GA: 18-20 October 2019
- Night Market, Peachtree City, GA: 12 October 2019
- Next Chapter Con in Ringgold, GA: 7 September 2019
- Grant Park Summer Shade Festival in Atlanta, GA: 24-25 August 2019
- MiniCon, Kennesaw, GA: 20 July 2019
- 2nd Annual 4th of July Family Fun Fest, Locust Grove, GA: 4 July 2019
- 42nd Annual Geranium Festival in McDonough, GA: 18 May 2019
- Plein Aire Paint Out and Opening Reception hosted by Gallery at Hood Street in McDonough, GA: 11 May 2019
- Nickelodeon Art Show at Battle & Brew: February–March 2019
- 1st Annual Sewell Mill Storytelling Festival in Marietta,GA: 6 April 2019
- Callanwolde Artist Market, Atlanta, GA: 25-27 January 2019
- 2018 Fall Festival on Ponce, Atlanta, GA: 20 – 21 October 2018
- 2nd Annual Park 42 Fall Festival, Locust Grove, GA: 13 October 2018
- 2018 Fall Fest in Candler Park, Atlanta, GA: 29-30 September 2018
- Grant Park Summer Shade Festival 2018, Atlanta, GA: 25 – 26 August 2018
- 4th of July Family Fun Fest, Locust Grove, GA: 4 July 2018
- 41st Annual Geranium Festival, McDonough, GA: 19 May 2018
