ART & COMMERCE Tony Blair, Tony Blair (inset)

After getting his start re-imagining bits of recycled paper, Tony's work has grown to include pieces in foliage, fabric, and electrical cables. His portfolio includes a nibbled avocado sculpture, a gnawed four-leaf clover called Am I Still Lucky?, and a gnawed-on blanket. International acclaim came after his owner, Helen Seget, posted some of his work on the Saatchi gallery website, and it earned several hundred votes in an online competition. He followed quickly with his first show last November, and his work is currently on view at Seget's gallery in Newcastle, England. Craig Wilson, an art gallery manager in Nottingham, says, "Tony's work is superior to about 50 percent of the things I've seen."

On his personal blog, Tony describes himself as a "self-taught" artist and says, "I need my art to express myself"—something he apparently can't do with the other two, less-artistically inclined rats roommates, Gordon Brown and Gabriel Archangel.

Seget, an artist and studio owner herself, first noticed her pet's artistic abilities when he walked across some ceramic tiles and left his paw prints. She describes Tony as "a bit of a Greta Garbo character. He likes to be alone. He is currently working on an installation on plastic bags. He drags them across the room and shreds them." Gordon and Gabriel have not shown such creative impulses, though Gordon did collaborate with Tony on the avocado sculpture.

And though Tony may not be the first noted animal artist, he is the first to have his own line of pasta and rice noodles, which are "inspired by his love of Italian and Asian cuisine."