We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amanda Boehm. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amanda below.

Amanda, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Over the holiday season, I was honored to create a special watercolor painting for Mutts Coffee’s “Home for the Holidays” coffee labels. Mutts Coffee is a small batch roaster based out of Portland, Oregon, with their first dog-themed coffeeshop open in Beaverton Old Town District, featuring rescue dogs on their coffee bags, and giving back 25% of their profit to their dog rescue partners. I was really excited to team up with an organization that supports the same cause that I do. Mutts Coffee’s holiday coffee bag labels highlight some of the long stay pups at the local animal shelter to help them find their forever homes. The artwork I painted for the label featured Badger and Daisy, two pitties that had been overlooked for months. On the eve of the label release, Mutts Coffee found out that, not one, but both dogs were adopted! I couldn’t have been more thrilled to hear that they finally had homes. It was a really special project and made my heart so happy to support dogs in need.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Over the summer of 2022, I started a little mobile art business called Pitt Stop Studio, with the goal of donating a percentage of my proceeds to a non-profit that supports dog mobility (Gunnar’s Wheels out of Osseo, WI). My rescue dog, Neeno (the pittie in “Pitt” Stop), developed a neurological disorder in June of 2020. That summer, we both got a new set of wheels – his was a doggie mobility cart, mine was a mechanically questionable shuttle bus. Despite his disability, Neeno went on three cross country road trips and had tons of unique experiences visiting National Parks, Forests, and Rec Areas. Something I wanted to do in having this experience with my dog, was to help other disabled dogs have the same chance at having a full life. With Pitt Stop Studio, I am able to create art and give back.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Originally I went to college for painting and creative writing, but ended up in graphic design and grew my career in marketing for events and expos. In late 2019, I decided to move out of Wisconsin, landing in the San Francisco Bay Area, having never lived in a major city, to try my hand as a freelance graphic designer in a place with larger events. I settled in and two months later, with an upcoming expo and few new work opportunities under my belt, COVID lockdown began. Events were canceled until further notice and my services were no longer needed. Now I was unemployed and trying to figure out what to do with my career, unsure if events would ever go back to normal. A friend connected me with a friend of theirs who had written a children’s book and was looking for an illustrator. I inquired about the project, sent some sample sketches, and hoped for the best. It had been a long time since I’d painted, and I had never worked on a book before. I was worried I might be rusty, but I told myself it was like riding a bike. The author, Megan Wood, and I hit it off and we began working together on Cash The Clever Canine, book one of Farm Day Adventures. I loved this project – it reinforced all the reasons I went to college for painting and creative writing in the first place, and it gave me the confidence to actually consider making art my career. It took a pandemic to realize what actually made me happy and rekindled my passion to paint. What I really loved was illustration and picture books, and I decided to keep going. Since then, we’ve completed book two, Billy The Silly Goat, and I started my little art business, Pitt Stop Studio. I also started working as an elementary school library clerk which has been super rewarding, and I stay up to speed on books that kids like and dislike these days by getting to hear their brutally honest opinions firsthand. Every little bit helps as I work towards one day writing and illustrating my own children’s books.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

There are a few things driving my creative journey. The first is to create art and give back by donating to a non-profit organization that helps disabled dogs, so that dogs like Neeno are able to live full lives. This was my motivation for starting Pitt Stop Studio. My other goal is to write and illustrate my own children’s books. I have a handful of ideas in mind, but one I’d love to accomplish would be about Neeno’s adventures as a wheelie dog. In my head there’s a young adult novel that I have been writing and not writing for a decade that I imagine to be a graphic novel one day. Another goal of mine is to get into the creation of children’s educational materials/reference books. This is a more recent interest that came about while working as an elementary school library clerk who loves recommending books from our reference section (now I have a group of kindergarteners who are repeatedly check out our books on the axolotl, blobfish, and snot otter). As a kid I was always interested in books about animals, bugs, and science related stuff so I’ve been excited to see how kids reference books have evolved and the fun and creative ways that information is presented. Over the last five years, I’ve traveled more than I ever had in my life and have seen a lot of beautiful and different places – because I spend so much time outdoors, I’ve picked up birdwatching and identifying native plants and can definitely see myself creating field guides and other reference materials to teach kids about the things I’ve seen.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://amandaboehmdesign.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pittstopstudio/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pittstopstudio/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-boehm/