Jean Carlson Masseau is a free lance illustrator, photographer and fine artist working out of her studio in Hinesburg, Vermont. Some of her illustration clients have included such magazines as Horticulture, Fine Gardening, Garden Design,The Herb Companion, Delta Airline’s SKY Magazine, Gardeners Supply Catalog, Women’s Day Gardening, Eating Well, Harrowsmith, National Gardening,Vermont Life, University Mall, the Colorado Flute Orchestra and Lake’s End Cheeses among others. She is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design with a major in illustration and emphasis in the areas of photography, textiles and printmaking. She also attended the University of Vermont for two years, studied at Brown University while at RISD, and subsequently received a teaching certificate from UVM for grades K-12.
Her work is connected by horticultural or landscape themes whether paintings, drawings, or photography. Neighbors, friends and family are frequent subjects for drawings, photographs and portraiture. She taught full-time at South Burlington High School where she wrote curriculum for a fledgling program and taught a wide variety of courses from drawing and painting to clay/pottery, photography, weaving and graphic design. She continues to teach occasionally for all ages in her studio and for local programs such as the former St. Michaels’ College Summer Academy. Her art has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators in New York and by Print Magazine representing the nation’s best in their Regional Design Annuals. One of her early pieces was selected for the book, 200 YEARS OF AMERICAN ILLUSTRATION , A Retrospective of American Illustration from 1776 to 1976 , published by the N.Y. Society of Illustrators and Random House. Other work has been included in; THE CONTEMPORARY QUILT (Dutton), THE FIBERARTS DESIGN BOOK , GARDENING FOR DUMMIES, EVENING GARDENS , and Fiberarts magazine.
Jean’s photographs have been published in Vermont Life magazine, their new book, THE TWELVE SEASONS OF VERMONT, a recent engagement calendar and National Gardening magazine. A photograph recently won second prize in Popular Photography and Imaging Magazine’s Annual International Photography Competition, published in January of 2005. It was one of 40 chosen from over 10,000 entries. One of her horticultural sepia photographs received a juror’s award and cash prize at the Attleboro Museum Center for the Arts’ recent national juried exhibit.
Her work has been featured in Fletcher Allen’s Vermont Artists calendar, and the Vermont City Marathon poster in 2002, as well as many national and local juried exhibitions including: Attleboro Museum Center for the Arts, (Attleboro, MA); Arlington Center for the Arts’ Gibbs Gallery, Arlington, MA; Basin Harbor Club Vergennes (Reflections exhibits); Arts Alive, (Burlington); Firehouse Gallery, (Burlington); Philadelphia Museum of Arts and Crafts Exhibition; Southern Vermont Arts Center; Chaffee Gallery, (Rutland, VT); Frog Hollow, Middlebury; New York Historical Society Museum, (NY, NY); Montserrat School of Art, (Beverly, MA); Rhode Island School of Design; Shelburne Farms, “Envisioned in a Pastoral Setting”; Ferrisburg Artisans’ Guild, The Round Barn, (Waitsfield, VT); The Governor’s Corridor, (Montpelier, VT); and the Society of Illustrators’ Gallery in NYC, among others.
Jean volunteered for seven years with Hinesburg Community School’s drama program designing and painting 20’ backdrops as well as designing the program’s T-shirts for fundraising. She coordinated, designed and published a 160 page perfect-bound cookbook as a fundraiser for Kinderhaus Children’s Center with a full-color painted wrap-around cover illustration, as a pro bono project.
