Tracking Through Art
Honey Bee Stationery Note Card art – Wild Animal Track Designs. (Courtesy photo)
By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper
For anyone who loves unique art, Jill Mahan’s work offers something wonderful and different.
Jill, a graphic artist in the Lakes Region, creates animal track art that draws the viewer’s eye. Her business, Animal Track Design, offers products for children and adults, including activity books, note cards, and other items.
Everything in the line is created by Jill, all drawn using animal tracks as a foundation. To understand her work, it helps to see it. (See the accompanying photo with caption explanation.)
Jill lives in Belmont, New Hampshire, and graduated with a degree in graphic design from Lakes Region Community College in 1999. After graduation, she worked in a local print shop and later enrolled at Plymouth State University, receiving a BA and graduating cum laude.
Having lived in the Lakes Region nearly all of her life, Jill has a deep connection to the area and is proud of her roots here. She says, “My great-great-grandfather was Leander Lavalley, at one time the owner and captain of the MS Mount Washington in the early 1900s.”
Like many artists, Jill’s work reflects her life. One person she met along the way led to her current art using animal tracks: “My boyfriend, the former Dick Click, from Belmont, was a hunter (he passed away from cancer in 2016). I had never hunted before, but he took me out with him, and it got me interested in the woods. It is quiet there, and you can really observe the natural world. I noticed some animal tracks and realized the pattern of the tracks created their own story.”
That was the start of her unique idea to create pictures using outlines of various animal tracks. As Jill and her boyfriend traveled “all over the state” for hunting and fishing, she noticed tracks everywhere. Each new track she spotted added to the list she could use in her artwork.
As time passed, with her experience and knowledge of printing and graphic arts, Jill began to create a line of products using the art she made with animal track outlines. “I think of animal tracks as forms to fill a space and to create subject matter,” she says.
Information on Jill’s website, boldsparkdesign.com, explains it best: “Jill’s artistic journey began with a deep connection to the natural world. Inspired by her experiences hunting and fishing in the New Hampshire woods, she noticed the intricate patterns left by animals—tracks in the snow, impressions in the soil. These observations led to the creation of her signature collection: the Wild Animal Tracks Note Cards.”
With the success of her popular note cards, Jill began to plan more products offering unique art which she created with track outlines. Customers can choose from cards with images of Cardinals, Red Lobsters, Largemouth Bass, and Monarch Butterflies, to name just a few options. Floral lovers can opt for Pink Lady Slipper, Mushrooms, Lupines, and many others.
Jill was never one to stick to a single product, so she soon branched out to create more options using her animal track art, such as activity books and calendars. The Wild Animal Tracks Collection features designs inspired by the tracks of various animals, each telling a story of movement and presence. The collection reflects Jill’s ability to find art in the everyday, transforming simple observations into meaningful designs.
Jill also maintains a full-time, busy job at the State of New Hampshire Department of Safety, designing forms used by government offices. In her spare time, she can be found creating products and art for Animal Track Designs from her home studio.
Jill creates notecards, activity books, coloring books, stickers, bookmarks, and more to prepare for the fairs where she sells her products. A 2027 calendar makes a great gift and uses beautiful designs, such as a cardinal with information about the bird. The calendar includes an image for each month of the year, such as a Celtic Cross in March and flowers in May, among others. The calendar will be available at her booth in the craft building at this year’s Sandwich Fair in Sandwich, New Hampshire, taking place Oct. 10 – 12.
Jill participates in a number of fairs where her products are popular with adults as well as youngsters. (She has been doing craft fairs since 2014.) She says, “I will be at Sandwich Fair as well as the Gilford High School Christmas Fair and a Christmas Fair in Belmont, among others.”
She continues, “As well as the fairs, I also sell at the wholesale level and online at my website.” Jill also does freelance graphics, logos, magazines and more in her spare time.
The popular activity books Jill creates are for ages 12 and up; adults and children alike can get lost in the world of animal tracks, along with word search games, information on wild animals, and much more.
Jill attended NH Fish & Game’s WILD Saturday, and she is working with the Wildlife Federation on a project featuring an activity book.
Because Jill has a strong background in all aspects of printing, she understands paper quality and how to create a perfect image through the printing process. This adds to the beauty of her work, as seen in her well-planned activity book and coloring books that are favorites of all ages.
At boldsparkdesign.com, her philosophy is explained: “Each piece is thoughtfully crafted, ensuring that every design resonates with authenticity and care. Jill’s commitment to excellence is evident in the meticulous attention to detail and the passion infused into every creation.”
The products include vinyl stickers, a Christmas Collection of holiday cards and a coloring book, magnets, note cards (one of the subjects is the Old Man of the Mountain, which is popular when made with a design featuring animal tracks), calendars, animal track designs, prints, bookmarks, a wild animal coloring book, stationery and more.
What began as a trip into the woods to learn more about hunting and to follow the lead of her boyfriend eventually led Jill into the wild world of animals. Following the animals’ tracks led her to a unique subject matter we can all enjoy.
For a complete list of products and more information, visit boldsparkdesign.com.