Kenneth Helgren simply enjoys painting the beauty of our natural world. The native wildlife of Texas and the North American landscape are the primary subjects of his paintings, but he often paints the animals of Africa for a “change of pace.” A native Texan, he has made his home in central Texas in close proximity to both the vast Texas coastal plains and the wondrous Texas Hill Country. Learning to hunt and fish at an early age, he quickly established a love for the outdoors. Gradually, his interest gravitated to art and archeology. he began spending more time in the field searching for subjects to draw and paint as he looked for Indian arrowheads across the vast Texas landscape. This eventually led to a desire to develop a career in the art field. He first studied art through a home correspondence course offered by Famous Artist’s Schools of Westport, Connecticut since no art classes were offered in the local high school at that time. Following this course, he was hooked on the visual arts and went on to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He has enjoyed a 25-year career as an artist for several different Texas agencies.

His first art award was received at the annual student show at The University of Texas. His next accomplishments were placing in the top 100 designs of the prestigious Federal Duck Stamp competition and being selected for the first annual “Classic Art” show for public broadcasting in Austin. In 1997 he designed the White-winged Dove Stamp for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and illustrated a manual entitled “The Hunter's Field Guide,” that was published nationally by Outdoor Life Publishing for hunter safety programs. He has been among the five finalists of the Oregon Upland Game Bird Stamp Art Competition in 1998 and 2004, and the ten finalists of the Kansas Wildlife Art Series Competition.

Mr. Helgren is member of the Worldwide Nature Artists group and his paintings hang in collections throughout the United States. He sells his work through several renowned Texas galleries as well as by commission. He is also represented by Loviisa Fine Arts in the United Kingdom and Ireland.