Patrick McDonnell, a native of New Jersey, attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City on scholarship and graduated with a BFA in 1978. In 1994 McDonnell created Mutts, a daily newspaper comic strip distributed by King Features Syndicate. He has since received numerous awards for his strip. Mutts appears in 700 newspapers in over 20 countries, and the Mutts cartoons have been collected and published in many books throughout the world. An Abrams book of his life and work, “Mutts: The Comic Art of Patrick McDonnell”, was published in Autumn 2003. He has recently embarked on a children’s book career, and his “The Gift of Nothing” was on the New York Times bestseller list in January 2006. A signed watercolour print is available at the auction valued at $500.
McDonnell is a member of the following boards:
National Cartoonists Society
The Humane Society of the United States
The Fund for Animals Art for Animals
HSUS Hollywood Office Neighborhood Cats
North Shore Animal League Charles M. Schulz Museum
McDonnell tries to live a conscious, organic vegan lifestyle with his wife, Karen, dog Earl, and cat MeeMow.