Sam Sikkenga is an emerging artist based in Lansing, Michigan, who has expressed herself through art from a young age. She received numerous awards during school, including the opportunity to design and paint a 500 square foot mural alongside classmates for two years.

After high school, Sam pursued art with a focus on painting at Northern Michigan University. However, she chose to move closer to home due to her father's failing health. Changing career paths, she then graduated with an associate's degree in Veterinary Technology. In school, she used art as a study tool and filled notebooks with scientific sketches and drawings.

As a full-time Licensed Veterinary Technician, the emotional toll of secondary trauma and poor coping skills led to alcoholism, causing Sam to lose the ability to draw, paint, and dream. However, she was taken in by a supportive recovery community and quickly regained a passion for living.

Free from substances since 2018, she gradually re-learned skills that had been lost. In 2022, Sam was offered the opportunity to illustrate the canine eye for a Diplomat of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmology, which reignited her love for art and instilled new confidence.

In the spring of 2023, she was recoginzed for her talent and won first place in Odd Nodd Art Supply's Art Tote Contest in Lansing, Michigan.

Sam experiments with different media, and her favorite subjects are animals and nature, especially companion animals. Her work aims to tell stories and find beauty in ordinary moments.