Dean Morrissey has been
drawing and creating characters since his childhood in Boston. Inspired by
Disney matte paintings and comic book heros early on, he grew to appreciate the
works of the masters, such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Pyle and N.C. Wyeth.
Morrissey worked a variety of job until deciding to paint full time in the
late 1970’s. He worked as a freelance bookcover illustrator for over 15
different publishers in New York and won numerous awards. Morrissey is self
taught, and considers the demands of cover illustration to have been his “art
school”.
In 1991, Morrissey began to paint some images from a story that he was
creating. Three years later, those visions were realized with the publication of
his beautifully illustrated book Ship of Dreams. Ship won numerous awards,
including The New YorK Times “Ten Best Illustrated Books” of 1994. It also
reached no.3 on the NY Times Bestseller List. Saks Fifth Avenue has used the
story and images for it’s famous Holiday windows, and a movie theater in
Orlando is being themed after Ship including a fully realized Sandman’s ship
(26ft x43ft) that will be hanging in the lobby.
Morrissey’s second book, The Great Kettles, was released in the fall of
1997 to great critical review. It too has won awards, including a gold medal
from The Society of Illustrators.
Morrissey has also illustrated The Song of Celestine, a children’s book
inspired by James Redfield’s Celestine Prophecy. Song was release in the fall
of 1998 by Little, Brown and Co.
Morrissey has recently completed a new picture book, The Christmas Ship, to
be published by Harper Collins in fall 2000. There will also be a chapter book,
The Moon Robber published Spring 2001.
Morrissey lives with his wife Shan and his son on the South Shore of
Massachusetts.
Picture This
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