___________________________________________________________ mercedes mcdonald
                                                                                                     

Mercedes was born in Raleigh, NC as her father was attending the School of Design at NC State.  She spent the early part of her childhood in New Mexico and Colorado, then returned to North Carolina.  Art was a part of her life from very early on.  She and her sisters spent countless hours around the dining room table drawing.

As a third year student at the Atlanta College of Art, these early influences began to surface in Mercedes’ art, forming the beginning stages of her style today.  Emerging through the pastel medium, her drawings became large (up to 6 feet) and wild with color, depicting memories from her childhood in the west.

This experience led Mercedes west to California for graduate studies.  After spending a year at the California College of Arts & Crafts with a full scholarship, she transferred to the prestigious San Francisco Art Institute to complete her degree, earning an MFA in painting.  While still in school, Mercedes pursued a career in illustration using her fine art style.

As a successful and well-known illustrator some of her clients have included; Neiman Marcus, Allstate, IBM, and Bose Corp.  She illustrated the children’s book How Snake Got His Hiss published by Orchard Books and has worked with Chronicle Books and Harcourt Brace.

Mercedes taught part-time at California College of Arts & Crafts, San Francisco for six years and is now teaching at the College of the Canyons in Valencia, California. 

In her studio in Southern California, Mercedes continues to create her colorful art.  Animals often appear in her work and she includes her cats whenever she can.

Her work has been added to many private collections over the years as well as the following corporate collections; LA Times corporate offices, Bank of America-San Francisco, Freddie Mac Foundation, Tokuka Power/Southwest Gallery-Japan, Parlay International, KCET television-Los Angeles, the Gas Company-Los Angeles, Baltimore Gas & Electric, and Shareholders Service Group.