About Stinky Dog

The Story of Stinky Dog

Stinky Dog is the result of a life lived on the move.  My parents,  true adventurers at heart, transplanted us from London to the U.S. in search of fortune (never found it), moving us over 50 times before I turned 18.

We didn’t just move between houses; we moved between worlds. Some of our most memorable stops included a ramshackle motel, a sailboat in San Francisco, a dome in Yosemite, and many other places in between. To make sense of the constant change and the colorful characters we met along the way, I turned to a world of my own making: books and doodling.

After leaving home at 18, I kept that nomadic spirit alive, traveling overseas and eventually landing in Portland, Oregon. I found a job in a downtown laundromat that felt like a living comic book, filled with people as vibrant as any I could imagine.

One day, I spotted a cool, old discarded coat at the laundromat . I fished it out, washed it, and fashioned it into a stuffed dog as a birthday gift for my boyfriend (now husband). It was based on a dog he had rescued from the pound. That little handmade dog made everyone laugh. I started doodling him everywhere—on bar napkins, old receipts, and scraps of paper. My friends insisted I take my "Stinky" drawings to the Portland Saturday Market, and  became known as the "Stinky Artist."

My "gypsy" ways came to a halt when we moved to a quiet, small town in the Adirondack Mountains to raise our boys. I slowed down to a pace I didn't think I existed—but surprisingly, that’s where Stinky truly came alive.

Twenty-eight years later, Stinky is still catching the rhythm of life—whether he’s catching waves in a tropical paradise or just vibing in the mountains. He’s a reminder that no matter how many times you move, the art always travels with you and that every person and dog you meet a long the way are a part of you forever.

Sam xoxo