Mark Ruddy was born and raised in New Hampshire. He studied drawing and sculpture in college. He moved to New York City where he took up oil painting. After the birth of his son, Mark and his family left Brooklyn and settled in the Hamptons on the eastern end of Long Island. He worked as a freelance illustrator creating wine labels for some of the local vineyards. After a chance meeting with an interior designer, Mark began to turn his attention to painting murals. He ran a successful mural painting business for twenty years before moving back to New Hampshire to take a job teaching painting, drawing and sculpture at New Hampshire Technical Institute. Mark continues to exhibit his paintings, drawings and collages.