Artist: Patrick McDonnell
Title: Recyle Love
Size: 11.5" x 15.5"
Edition: Artist Hand Signed and Numbered Limited Edition to 350 editions
Medium: Lithograph on Paper
About the Artist: “On September 5, 1994, Mutts debuted in seventy-five newspapers. I felt that I was finally doing what I was meant to do.” - Patrick McDonnell Mutts made its first appearance in 1994 and Patrick McDonnell’s comic strip has been a global phenom ever since, touching on themes of animal rights, love and kindness, art and the sanctity of life. McDonnell has used his lovable characters to raise awareness for ideals he believes in. “Like most cartoonists, I was basically self-taught. I was never too concerned with learning how to draw ‘correctly’… I wanted to know how to give life to little pen-and-ink characters. Early on I found I could express feelings and thoughts in these little abstractions. I don’t know where it comes from. That’s the magic of cartooning for me,” said McDonnell in his book Mutts: The Comic Art of Patrick McDonnell. The strip is now in more than seven hundred newspapers in twenty countries and McDonnell is bringing his characters off the pages of newspapers and books and onto walls in the form of fine art lithography. In his first fine art lithograph with Jack Gallery, McDonnell features the kitten Jules, also known as Shtinky Puddin, the moniker given to him by Earl and Mooch, perched upon a heart shaped earth. Jules is a small tabby kitten with a huge heart whose best friend is the planet Earth and whose obsession is saving endangered species. In this new image “The World Could Use More Hugs,” Jules is wearing his signature green sweater and very much expressing his love for the earth and his desire to hug, “Jules is my animal advocate,” McDonnell says. In addition to putting his characters to work for animals and the environment McDonnell steps up as well. His books, of which there are many, ranging from Mutts comics collections to story books, such as The Gift of Nothing, a 2005 New York Times best seller, and Hug Time, a current New York Times best seller are printed on recycled paper. “A big part of my life is doing charity work,” McDonnell says. He has been on the board of directors for the Humane Society of the United States since 2000 and is also on the board of directors for the Fund for Animals. A native of New Jersey, McDonnell has designed the State’s Animal Friendly license plate featuring the Mutts characters. Each year since 1998 McDonnell and Mutts have devoted a week to “Shelter Stories,” to commemorate HSUS’s National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week. He has won many cartoonist and humanitarian awards including the National Cartoonist Society Reuben for Cartoonist of the Year and The HSUS Hollywood Genesis Award for Ongoing Commitment. McDonnell currently lives an earth-friendly, vegetarian lifestyle with his wife Karen, their cat MeeMow and dog Peanut. Patrick McDonnell Jan