"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."  

~ Pablo Picasso

Background: I grew up on a 40 acre ranch that bordered 200 acres of pure wilderness, surrounded by God's creatures and nature.

Ethnicity: Norwegian American, I am third generation born in America (and so is my husband, his family is Norwegian American as well, what are the chances, LOL!), my great grand father was Odin Helgeson (son of Thor Helgeson), born in Telemark, Norway, and immigrated here with his family as a young boy, he later married my great grand mother Oleana Olson, born near Oslo, Norway, who also immigrated here with her family as a young girl.

Born: Seattle, WA in 1977

Jeb loves to strike a pose in front of the "new" couch, I think he believes we got it as a back drop for him. Jeb is living out his retirement as a spoiled house dog. 

*update* we lost Jeb in December of 2010, he died in his sleep, he was almost 14. I will always miss him. He was one of those once in a lifetime dogs.

Furkids (and not so furry ones): 7 dogs: The Shelties: KJ, Fox Fire, Jaymie, Patience, Megan, and Ava, and our siberian husky: Cheyenne; 3 cats: MJ, Jacob, and Jared; a plecostomus, a south american dragon fish, a golden algae eater, and a giant goldfish; 10 nigerian dwarf goats; Monte, Shadow, Dawn, Amber, Zowie, Zenon, Zillow, Aspen,IsaBell, and Bubbles. I used to raise and show Nubian dairy goats (I had them for ten years), and our rabbits Simba, Nala, Macchiato, Kahlua, irish Cream aka Bugsy, Tedi Behr, Frangelico, Daiquiri, Dancer, Martini, Fizz, and Fizzy (Lionheads and Satins), and we just took in several rabbits from someone that was moving, and we also have chickens: a frizzle bantam, three Showgirls, 4 silkies, and one bantam naked neck, and several Easter Eggers and Olive Eggers, and a pair of Silver Laced Wyandottes, we also have a trio of Royal Palm Turkeys and a quartet of Silver Bantam Ducks (Americam Silver Appleyard Minis), several mice, a coronet cavy, a 1.0.0 snow corn snake, a 0.1.0 amel cornsnake, and a 1.0.0 Ball Python, I think that's it? And I also had a couple of horses along the way too growing up (a pure polish racing bloodlines arabian, wow what a horse! and a pure black quarter horse), my old room mate had ferrets  (we are still great friends). I have always taken every opportunity to study and research as many breeds/colors/varieties and types of animals as I possibly can :)

Favorites: Music: Depeche Mode & techno/trance, and a little of everything including jazz, blues, & big band music; Movies: Monty Python & the Holy Grail, Arsenic & Old Lace, Ice Age, The old Pink Panther Movies, Interview with the Vampyre, The Sixth Sense, Best In Show, Napoleon Dynamite, and I love old black and white movies especially for the superb acting! I can't stand most musicals though (especially animated ones, ahhhh!!!), LOL, far too much singing and dancing, I must have had a bad experience as a child, ROFL! Though I do love ballets; TV Shows: The X-Files, Nightstalker, Dark Angel, Supernatural, Smallville, House, Jake 2.0, and The Dresden Files, pretty much if it's been canceled, I probably loved it (example: Nightstalker, and again later: Nightstalker); Food: Pizza and anything Italian; Colors: black and silver, which is why I paint in such bold vivid colors, somehow it makes sense.

Interests: My husband and my girls Shaylee and Jasmine (ages 8 and 10), and my 4 year old son tristan and my 11 month old baby boy, Grayson; My Art career; Grooming, showing and training my dogs; cyber dogs (a computer game I run with a friend from Australia); and I also do some local acting (theatre has always been my second love next to art), I was the principle character in a Montana anti-gambling PSA (Summer 2004), and I was an extra in a Chuck Norris film (The Cutter, 2006, watch the funeral scene, my hair is famous! ROFL!!), and I was also recently an extra in another movie, soon to be released- A psychological thriller!

Influences: my unconventional home schooling education, gave me more time to develop my own unique style at an early age . My extremely supportive parents allowed me to explore my love of art and encouraged me to pursue a career in the arts.

Recent accomplishments include:  Selling my art to a Gallery and various pet boutiques and spas, Creating a large painting for the Grateful Dog in The Villages, Florida, and painting a giant wall mural for the Market Street Market in Spokane, WA (on Market Street of course, if you are ever in town, check it out! *update* They sold the building and someone tore it down!?! Can you believe that? I am so mad, so much work down the drain, and so much talent in there, there were several other artists who did murals as well in and on the building, stupid Spokane, anyway! :D), and a showing at the Out of Our Minds Gallery in Down Town Spokane, WA, and I have was at the Artist's Tree until it closed and now have work at The Lady in the Woods Art Gallery.

My award winning art has been featured on 2 WA State Dairy Goat Council Newsletters, the Deer Park Fair Premium Book Cover, Advertising Posters & Programs for Boise Little Theater, etc. My originals and prints are quickly becoming popular around the globe.

Recent Awards: Judge's Choice, People's Choice, Best of Category Professional Division, Best in Show.

My gallery and Studio Stage Dragon are located in Chattaroy, WA

About Stage Dragon

Where did I come up with Stage Dragon? Dragons are one of my favorite animals, and I love to act on stage and combine my love of art and theatre, and I had recently created two Pendragon set pieces for a play I was in when I lived in Boise, ID, thus Stage Dragon became my online handle and it stuck and eventually became my new studio name (which was formerly Seraphim Studio).

Artist Statement

I started drawing at a year old when, sick in the hospital with severe asthma, a nurse handed me some paper and some crayons, everyone laughed and thought, yeah, right, when to their surprise I started drawing actual pictures, I drew a cat, since my family had a cat (named Daisy) at the time, I have been drawing ever since.

For me art is my way of dealing with everything that is jumbled up in my head, it’s how I keep my sanity or else it keeps me insane, I’m not sure which, perhaps the latter is more accurate, LOL.

Dogs have always been my favorite subject matter. They have such a funny human quality and I strive to capture this in my work. It’s as if they have this whole other world going on that we no nothing about, they just let on that we own them, when it’s really the other way around.

Some of my favorite artists include: Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Andy Warhol, Patrick Nagel, and Sue Dawe.

I never want to become stagnant as an artist. I want to allow myself to develop new ideas, and always have a fresh outlook on my work. I think I was probably born in the wrong era, but if it means being a starving artist, that's okay. I'd rather starve doing something that is my lifeblood, than be rich doing something boring.

- Kimberly Helgeson Sams ©2011