Dean Morrissey (1951-2021) drew and created characters since his childhood in Boston. Inspired by Disney matte paintings and comic book heroes 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 jobs until deciding to paint full time in the late 1970’s. He worked as a freelance book cover 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. His books include Ship of Dreams, The Great Kettles: A Tale of Time, The Song of Celestine, The Christmas Ship, A Christmas Carol, The Moon Robber, The Winter King, The Monster Trap and The Crimson Comet. His awards include The Society of Illustrators Gold Medal for The Great Kettles, The Chesley Award for The Light Ship (2002), and won the Chesley Award for Anna of the Celts (2003).

Dean had multiple appearances at Lord Nelson's Gallery for gallery shows and was a regular participating artist at the annual History Meets the Arts show in Gettysburg.