Be Mine: A Collection of Valentines by Q. Cassetti

BeMine A Collection of Valentines

Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style

Q. Cassetti Two Camp Street Trumansburg, NY 14886 607.387.5424 q@theluckystone.com www.qcassetti.com

Table of Contents

Introduction

Inspiration

Process

The Work

Marketing

Program

Conclusion

Biography

Bibliography

Addendum (the work) 30

Note: All the black and white illustrations throughout this paper are from my sketchbooks and design development drawings for these valentines. I thought they would add a layer to the final work along with adding a bit of wit to this work. They were all developed as pen and ink illustrations that were finished or manipulated in Adobe Photoshop (CS2). All of these illustrations (not specifically noted) were created and all rights owned by Q. Cassetti between 2008-2009.

INTRODUCTION I entered the University of Hartford’s Limited Residency M.F.A. in Illustration program with the intent to study with Murray Tinkelman (b. 1933). Murray was the person who could help me to find an alternative, personal, richer style beyond the skills and digital approach I had developed while working on my M.A. I was getting a M.F.A. in Illustration not to teach, but to nurture the sleeping illustrator I had repressed since earning a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from Carnegie-Mellon University thirty years before. Prior to starting the Hartford program in July, 2008, both Murray and Carol Tinkelman (birth date unknown) were telling me I was a decorative illustrator, a concept that was foreign to me. I had no idea of any continuum, context, or any sense of what made an illustration decorative. But after Murray’s talk about decorative illustration, outlining the conventions, roots, and proponents of this approach to image-making, I discovered I was part of an illustrative tradition. The stylistic conventions and historical background seemed to really mesh with my thinking, interests, and passions. My impressions and energy around this topic were clearly expressed in my fall 2008 paper on decorative illustration: “And you know, despite Murray’s warning about this talk, its history, and the amount of time he put into creating this presentation, this was the “welcome home” that I had been looking for since entering Syracuse University in 2005. This was blowing the doors off the hinges for me, giving me a category for my work to live in. This talk confirmed that I really didn’t need to change myself—just be my best and have many sets of clothing (insofar as styles) like many of the fabulous decorative illustrators Murray detailed in this magical hour.

So, what is decorative illustration? Murray simply outlined that the world is divided among two types of illustrators or artists. There are the round people personified by Rembrandt’s portraits—rounded forms with chiaroscuro, a realistic window into the world. There are the flat people personified by Egyptian Tomb painting—flat, stylized forms that interpret the world. Decorative illustration is work done by those of us who live in the flat world. Murray started at the beginning by saying that decorative illustration was “always with man, everywhere.” And so he begin to talk about all my absolute favorites— Egyptian tomb art, Indian miniatures, Swedish folk art, Pennsylvania German Fraktur paintings. Flat, flat, flat. Asian embroidery with the thread and sewing pattern adding dimension to the flat planes of color; Peruvian tapestries rife with color and texture—all more examples of this decorative world. How would Murray know about my love of these things since childhood? How would he know about my training as a calligrapher studying Fraktur or my experience as a needleworker, embroiderer, and knitter. This is a place where all my interests and studies, my notebooks and my dreams can live—weaving past experiences and interests into this new consuming passion of illustration. And all of this crazy amalgam of stuff and tidbits might actually have value to someone else as well.” My journey at Hartford became clear as an outcome of the previous summer’s “dream project” with Alice “Bunny” Carter (dates unknown) and Dennis Nolan (dates unknown), combined with Murray’s talk about decorative illustration and Jean Tuttle’s presentation of her work and impressions. I would work with Murray and Doug Andersen (b. 1949) as a decorative illustrator, learning some of the conventions, developing an approach and a method, and creating a body of work that would give me the freedom to see where this approach could take me.

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

I N S P I R AT I O N Illustration has taught me that each project stands on the shoulders of the last one in concept, content, and technique. But since graduating from Syracuse University (July, 2007), my work has changed. My illustration has morphed from the exclusive production of portraits of animals, people, and birds using the computer in a scalable-vector technique to including a decorative, intentionally hand-drawn, illustrative approach. This change from vector portraits to inclusion of a decorative approach started with a week of classes with Whitney Sherman (dates unknown), illustrator and educator from the Maryland Institute of Fine Arts in Baltimore. Whitney is very inspired by found illustration and uses technology to change and bend those found works. The projects during that final week at Syracuse taught me that what was in my sketchbooks had worth. My sketchbooks were resources to be mined, developed, and used to inspire new works, or drive new collections of illustrations. Memento Mori One Syracuse assignment became the impetus for my Memento Mori project (Fig. 1). Memento Mori means “Remember Your Death” or “Remember Your Mortality.” I would turn fifty two months after my graduation from Syracuse, and I was conscious of my own mortality and death. I began to think about death and its meaning, symbols, and practices. I was reading Allen Ludwig’s treatise, Graven Images: New England Stonecarving and Its Symbols, 1650–1815 and was struck by the need to start drawing. The Mexican Day of the Dead figurines and nationalist engravings of José Guadalupe Posada (1852–1913) were fresh, funny, and poignant to me. I was stunned by the Victorian death photographs and their modern equivalents in gang culture. How we all captured that passage from life to memory was important to me. Six months later, I had more than three hundred ink drawings based on impressions from my research, reading, and thinking. Running parallel to this, I was writing my thoughts and impressions in my blog, The Rongovian Academy of Fine Arts (qcassetti.blogspot.com). I created two self-published books using these illustrations, accompanied by some of the writing from the blog. My intent was to use this research and these sketches as the springboard for my thesis at The University of Hartford.

Fig. 1 Q. Cassetti Drawings from Memento Mori, 2007–8 Pen and ink, University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

But that didn’t happen. Memento Mori became a fullblown personal exploration from which I was able to develop images that were inspired by my own thinking and reading. I used drawing and words as ways to understand and personally integrate this work. Images, patterns, and frames developed along with spot illustrations as a part of the exploration. Somehow creating a broad range of images and patterns became an important part of way of fully addressing the topic and internalizing the ideas. I plunged into the content without a plan or expectation. But was there wasn’t enough time to address all the thoughts and plans that were in place. Memento Mori was strictly black-and-white imagery that was off the pen, never refined or redesigned. The work had a momentum of its own, a form of automatic writing that just needed to flow out of my brain, through my pen into my sketchbook. There was no plan to sell this work. It was strictly personal. But it has become a wealth of imagery that I have mined and applied to projects like wine labels and a special illustration project on memorials for Steuben Glass. Several sketches have received national recognition (Society of Illustrators (N.Y.): Illustration 51, Creative Quarterly 15, and American Illustration [2008]). Lessons from Memento Mori were: • Pursue topics that are important to you. • If death sells, don’t worry about the marketing. • If the work resonates, there will be interest. • Even unfinished drawings can be illustration.

The Garden of Eden Murray Tinkelman didn’t agree with my development of Memento Mori as part of the thesis project. I trusted him and decided to work with the Genesis story of Creation from the beginning through Adam and Eve being chased out of the Garden of Eden. This was to be developed as a children’s book. I started my research and found that the Creation story had a lot of universals not only for the Judeo-Christian world, but also for the followers of Islam. The imagery was rich and robust with people, animals, and fish, with wonderful abstractions. “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Genesis, Chapter 1, verse 2: There was plenty there to keep the work from getting tedious. And, there were plenty of challenges that would push me a bit. I thumbnailed the flow of the story over 32 pages and decided to create a series of sample illustrations to see if I could get some traction around the idea. I started with the trees in the Garden of Eden. “And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.” “And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” Genesis, Chapter 2, verses 8–9 Vin Di Fate’s assignment from the Hartford Art School July contact period was to create an image for a cover or a spread for a genre publication. Murray suggested I wrap that assignment into the Eden work. The first approach to the tree (Fig. 2) used reflected/flipped imagery that I colored digitally. This image was not off the pen but was revised, redesigned, and reworked. I used patch illustrations that were designed and laid into the final. Murray thought that this tree was fine for the assignment. I wasn’t quite sure. So I started to work to better understand this Garden imagery (Figs. 3–7). Second Garden of Eden (Fig. 3) became the final.

Fig. 2 Q. Cassetti First Garden of Eden, 2008 Pen and ink, digital University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Fig. 3 Q. Cassetti Second Garden of Eden, 2008 Pen and ink, digital

Fig. 4 Q. Cassetti Eve, 2008 Pen and ink, digital

Fig. 5 Q. Cassetti The Tree of Knowledge, 2008 Pen and ink, digital Fig. 6 Q. Cassetti Separating the Firmaments, 2008 Pen and ink, digital

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Fig. 7 Q. Cassetti Genesis Sketches, 2008 Pen and ink, digital

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

On the Memento Mori project, I used a Rotring Fine Art pen, a Pentel Pocket Brush pen, and various widths of Faber Castell’s Pitt pen. All preliminary work was done with a nonrepro blue Verithin pencil. Any color was added in Adobe Photoshop after the black-and-white work was done and scanned (300 dpi). But I wasn’t getting any emotional traction from this work. The topic had everything: breadth, room to interpret, a ready audience, and universal appeal. I had sold the rights on The Tree of Knowledge (Fig. 5) to Quest Diagnostics to use for their annual holiday card (80,000 impressions). But the illustrations began to become work, hard work that I was no longer interested in. I wanted to create a body of work with less rigid and defined expectations. What the new images and new content would be was a mystery. Lessons from The Genesis illustrations were: • Pursue topics that are important to you. • Add another level of finish. • Add color to take the ink drawings further • Put figures and plants in a context—in a scene. • Integrate decorative illustration conventions (aspects of women’s faces, the understanding that elements taper as they move away from the trunk or basis of the form). Looking for the Topic I wasn’t thinking and dreaming about the Genesis project. I wasn’t charged up or having fun. I took a break by drawing ladies inspired by the fun I had had with the Hartford “Dream Project” with Alice “Bunny” Carter and Dennis Nolan during the July contact period. The first week of my Hartford experience and prior prep time were spent working on illustrations inspired by Marie Antoinette (1755–1793). I loved looking at the Elisabeth Vignée-LeBrun (1755–1842) paintings of Marie Antoinette (Figs. 8, 9), as I looked into Le Petit Trianon, her fantasy retreat at Versailles. I went wild looking for engravings of the hairstyles of the time (Fig. 10). It was frothy and fun with enough content to sink my teeth into and keep me thinking. The sketches (Fig. 7) I showed on the first day were captured in shapes and proclaimed “spots.” I needed to take these ideas to the next level by using them as a narrative (Fig. 11). At the end of the week, I had finished the sketches and was working with line and pouring over Aubrey Beardsley’s (1872–1898) illustrations from Alexander Pope’s (1688–1744) Rape of the Lock (Figs. 12, 13).

Fig. 7 Q. Cassetti Preliminary Dream Project Sketches, Marie Antoinette, 2008 Pen and ink, digital

Fig. 8 Elisabeth Vignée-LeBrun Portrait of Marie Antoinette, 1783 oils

Fig. 9 Elisabeth Vignée-LeBrun Marie Antoinette à la Rose, 1783 oils

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Fig. 10 Engraving selections on hairstyles from 1775â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1790 New York Public Library Digital Archives

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Fig. 11 Q. Cassetti Second sketch set,Marie Antoinette, 2008 Pen and ink, digital

Fig. 12 Aubrey Beardsley The Rape of the Lock, 1896 Pen and ink

Fig. 13 Aubrey Beardsley The Toilette, 1896 Pen and ink

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Pulling the idea back, and welcoming a period of revision was new to me. I needed to make something fun and pretty. Content and depth would take the images to another level. In response to hitting a dry patch with the Genesis project, I returned to the frothy and fun and created simple line drawings of women (e.g., Fig. 13) inspired by the previous work and the work that I admired of Lorraine Fox (1922–1976) (Fig. 14) that I had found on the Internet. There was a prettiness and a happiness in Butterfly. I liked the simplicity of the image and using the computer to refine the drawing, subtracting irrelevant detail. I was, to quote a Murray Tinkelmanism, “loving the line.” From this Butterfly came Un Chapeau d’Amour (Fig. 15), which spurred me to pay more attention to valentines. I had been randomly adding valentines to my sketchbook, inspired by a doodle I had done the previous summer of a heart-shaped wreath of entwined flowers. I had enjoyed the fluid line and how pretty the image became. I started creating only half of the valentine and flipping it in Adobe Photoshop to see how successful the image would be. I kept gravitating back to these hearts even when I was working on the Genesis project and found that this was what I really wanted to do. I wanted to continue to work in a decorative style. I wanted to explore the topic of valentines as decorations— trying out different approaches, and figures and topics, adding lettering and messages to the art, working in both color and simple black-and-white. If the idea of valentines could be elastic enough to allow me to pursue these channels of learning, then this had value. I knew that if I had confidence and love of the topic, the work would grow and change. Illustrating six valentines seemed like something I could do in the limited time that I had in the University of Hartford’s M.F.A. in Illustration program. As I started work in January, 2009, my goal was to have a dozen finished valentines for our contact period in mid March. I finished the twelve and have been drawing and refining the new images since March. As my interest and learning grew, so would the content and my technique and confidence expand.

Fig. 13 Q. Cassetti Butterfly, 2008 Pen and ink, digital

Fig. 14 Lorraine Fox Chapter heading art from Better Home and Gardens New Cookbook (1953)

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

THE PROCESS The creation of the valentines shown here went through the following steps:

Traditional Tools

Digital Tools

1. Designing and sketching.

> Rotring Art Pen

2. Researching and planning the illustrations.

> Faber Castell Pitt Pens (S, M, F, B, brush)

> Macintosh Power PC (2002) OS X

3. Laying out the illustrations in Verithin blue pencil in a Canson Sketchbook. If the designs were reflective, only half of the illustration was sketched in. If the illustrations were not reflected, the entire illustration was pencilled in. The layout was either done to size or slightly larger.

> Parker Gel Pen > Pilot Precise V5 Pen > Verithin colored Pencil (non-photo blue)

> Macintosh Powerbook 17” (2004) > Wacom Intuos Tablet (12”) > Epson Stylus Pro 4800 Printer

4. Inking in the layouts using pens, brush pens, brushes and ink. Amending the drawings with white-out, if necessary. Working back and forth in black-and-white. Making corrections and revisions in a form that could be continued electronically.

> Pentel Presto Fine Point Correction Pen

5. Scanning the inked art at as high as possible resolutions without making them too large to edit. I scanned between 600 and 800 dpi.

> Dick Blick heavy wt. trace

> Adobe Creative Suite 2 and 3

> Montval Field Sketchbook (11”x 14”)

6. Opening the illustrations in Adobe Photoshop and correcting, erasing, and fixing. Adjusting contrast. If necessary, converting the files to bitmap (bmp) to correct and then reconverting to greyscale. Saving copies.

> Moleskine sketchbook

> Sailor refillable brush pen > Noodler’s Borealis Black ink

> Epson Expression 10000XL Scanner > Tektronic 7300 Printer

7. Opening up separate files (herein termed “building files”) in which the illustrations were in RGB, working with CMYK palettes. 8. If the final images were to be in color, converting the working image files to duotone and then converting them to a color. Selecting all white and erasing. Moving color art to the building files. 9. If the images were to be reflected or flipped, taking the originals and flipping in the original art. Pulling the flipped art over to the new building files. 10. Continuing to bring in layers from original files. Saving as high resolution jpegs. Printing proofs of the layouts. Marking up the illustrations. Creating new parts/pieces of the illustration on heavy-weight tracing paper. Scanning in at high resolution and amending the building files. 11. Working back and forth, adding and subtracting until finalized. 12. Outputting and tweaking contrast. Reoutputting. 13. Finalizing. Saving as native Adobe Photoshop files, as high resolution jpeg,s and as low-resolution jpegs (width ~450 pixels).

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

THE WORK Steps in the body of work are described individually in chronological order with the concept and reference noted. Each illustration was developed as a 9” x 12” image at a high resolution so that any future enlargement would not result in loss of sharpness and detail.

Fig. 15 Q. Cassetti, Un Chapeau D’Amour,2009 Pen and ink, digital

Un Chapeau D’Amour (Fig. 15) The first “real” valentine was completed in late December, 2008. My intent was to create a very simple line drawing in the spirit of the work of Lorraine Fox (Fig. 15) and Butterfly (Fig. 14). I wanted to let the line lead and use color to highlight and brighten the image. I also wanted to put into place Murray Tinkelman’s illustration conventions for women’s face, limiting the line and shadow around the nose and mouth, and simplifying the eye treatment. Finch Valentine (Fig. 16) This valentine grew out of a series of little bird illustrations I had in my sketchbook. I felt that “birds and bees” were part of the valentine message. Thus the focus on the birds (the bees would come later). I redrew the bird along with half of the heart frame along with some incidental illustrations of the secondary branch and some berries. This illustration was then assembled and tinted in Adobe Photoshop in January, 2009.

Indian Tiger Valentine (Fig. 17) This valentine grew out of the reading and research I was doing from November, 2008 to February, 2009 on Indian painting and miniatures. I discovered that classic Indian painting was very regional in style, palette, and imagery. The more primitive works were used to market foodstuffs or present religious figures in an easily identifiable way to pilgrims (Fig. 18). I love the Indian decorative illustration genre: the flatness and the outrageously rich palette. The decorative illustration conventions exploited in much of this art have served as a good teacher, a good prod, and a resource for this project and many more to come. This tiger was inspired by the primitive West Deccan style portrayed in From the Ocean of Painting: India’s Popular Paintings 1589 to the Present. The bold stripes, simple drawing, graphic forms, and fluid tail of the tiger (Figs. 19, 20) dominate the picture.

Fig. 16 Q. Cassetti, Finch Valentine,2009 Pen and ink, digital University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Fig. 18 West Bengal, Calcutta, Batalla Two Battala woodcut display prints, derived from Kalighat painting, ca 1880 Woodcut print on paper, hand-colored with transparent water-based pigments.

Fig. 17 Q. Cassetti Indian Tiger Valentine, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

Fig. 20 West Bengal, Murshidabad district Detail: Scroll painting illustrating the legend of a tigers god as a ghazi (Muslim saint), for use as a visual prop in storytelling performances, ca 1800 Opaque water-based pigments on paper

Fig. 19 Western Deccan (Maharashtra and Northern Karnataka A tiger about to be attacked by a warrior, a folio from a Chitrakathi series illustrating the story of the horse sacrifice in a Marathi version of the Mehabharata for use as a visual prop in storytelling performances, ca 1840 Transparent and opaque water-based pigments on paper

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Sweetness (Fig. 21) Sweetness grew out of the idea of the “birds and the bees.” Since moving to Trumansburg, I have found a lot of pleasure in the seasons, nature, and the agricultural aspects of living. I feel that this is a great source of inspiration, both for daily living and for illustration. The bee has always been one of my favorite creatures. Bees are quiet heroes through their strong community, the sweet fruit of their labors, and their industry and assistance to the farmer. We take them for granted and yet, as we are finding out, without the bees our food sources are jeopardized. We are busy, like bees. And when a congregation of people are together, the sound they make is a buzz. We try to emulate these productive insects and making two valentines to honor them seemed right. I took lessons on how a flipped image could work in a more robust way from the Second Garden of Eden (Fig. 3). I also learned that putting an object within a context of a ground or even with a cloud behind the image develops the thought further. This valentine was created as a half page and flipped, tinted, and finished in Adobe Photoshop. The trees taper (Murray’s reminder that elements that move away from a trunk [e.g., arms and legs from the torso, branches from trees]) and frame a heart that holds the hive. I liked this image in black-and-white format (Fig. 22) and thought it was done. But Murray encouraged me to follow the “80/20” approach to render it in color. He said that when he was in his studio, working on a piece, he used the “80/20” measure to evaluate whether a work was done or not. Tinkelman describes the 80/20 approach (which could be 70/30, or 90/10) as a convention for reviewing and evaluating a piece of work. These imprecise percentages apply to warm/cool, light /dark, rough/smooth, or organic/geometric relationships. One can go beyond that short list. The 80/20 is a guideline that pushes you to not divide an illustration in half, but to shift the work off balance by creating a clear point/counterpoint in design and composition. Just as one shouldn’t divide the background of an illustration in half, one should not do the same with the other illustration elements used to comprise the picture. This point/counterpoint convention allows the artist to be tactically conscious of the elements of his/ her composition and how it needs to build in contrasts throughout the process.

Fig. 21 Q. Cassetti, Sweetness, 2009 pen and ink, digital

Fig. 22 Q. Cassetti, Sweetness Preliminary, 2009 pen and ink, digital

Fig. 23 Q. Cassetti, Sweetness Color Study, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

In the case of Sweetness, I chose a warm palette, saving the cool color blue for the cloud forms after I had experimented with a very warm dominant approach.(Fig. 23).

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Bee Mine (Fig. 24) Bee Mine directly followed Sweetness (Fig. 21). I wanted to see what would happen if the hive was bigger, the palette brighter, the heart shape merged with the design, and a pattern developed for the honeycomb used in the final. Bee Mine addresses these concerns and is related to Sweetness. I was encouraged by a classmate of mine, Chad Grohman (b. 1972), to start considering how to break up the symmetry by changing aspects of the image or adding pieces to create more interest and break it out of stasis. I was using the computer in the development of patterns, flipping the art and applying spots while working with the illustration. I wanted to move quickly, not losing the spirit and hand of the drawn image. The computer was taking more of a role in the finalization of my work. Garden of Love (Fig. 25) Garden of Love was derivative of Second Garden of Eden (Fig. 3), intentionally using the “80/20” cool palette dominant and expanding on my interest in pattern development using hand-drawn forms that were repeated on the computer, like the honeycomb background in Bee Mine. I was inspired by the Indian paintings mentioned in the Indian Tiger piece and wanted a patterned frame similar to that used by William Morris (1834–1896) (Fig. 26) in the publications produced by his press, Kelmscott Press.

Sweetheart (Fig. 27) Sweetheart grew out of my wanting to do a “chocolate box” style illustration. What I meant by “chocolate box” was an illustration that was stuffed with flowers the way the Victorians would pile pattern on top of flowers and throw in a few bows and clouds to boot. I initially developed it as a half illustration that didn’t really work (Fig. 28). I tried adding color to this detailed illustration. The colors seemed to conflict with each other given the complexity of this illustration. Color didn’t help move the work forward (Fig. 29). I posted it to my blog with the thought of consigning it to the heap of doodles shown throughout this document. But Murray Tinkelman was positive about the image, encouraging me to change and develop it. I decided to redraw this valentine, keeping in mind Chad Grohman’s direction to break up the symmetry.

Fig. 24 Q. Cassetti, Bee Mine,2009 Pen and ink, digital Fig. 25 (left) Q. Cassetti, Bee Mine,2009 Pen and ink, digital

Fig. 26 (below) William Morris The Wood Beyond the World, 1894 engraving and letterpress on paper in vellum binding with ribbon

I redrew this valentine and began to assemble it in Adobe Photoshop. The frogs were added because Murray stressed that adding bugs and creatures always helped an illustration. I agree. A ton of detail at the top was removed as I reflected on the adage, “the more is better but too much is too much.” I brought more florals in from other files and arranged them to break the line where the image was flipped. University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Fig. 28 Q. Cassetti, Sweetheart first version, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

Fig. 29 Q. Cassetti, Sweetheart first version, color trial, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

Fig. 27 (left) Q. Cassetti, Sweetheart 2009 Pen and ink, digital

Fig. 30 Q. Cassetti, Love Lock, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

Fig. 31 Q. Cassetti, Love Lock Study, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Both Murray and my husband, Rob Cassetti (b. 1957), stressed the need for lettering in the banner that bisects the heart. Rob has regularly pointed out the lettering that many artists and illustrators employ in their work— pushing me to consider the same, given my training as a calligrapher. I lettered “Sweetheart” in a calligraphic hand, which suited the illustration relating to the thick and thin strokes in the drawing. Sweetheart, Love Lock (Fig. 30), and Forever (Fig. 37) are all intentionally black-and-white. These images do not need color to communicate. These images also could parlay into tattoo designs given the imagery and strong messages they convey.

Love Lock (Fig. 30) Love Lock is a valentine dedicated to my mother, Ethelind Appleton Giltinan Eddy (b. 1929). Ethelind’s first name in Welsh means “Royal Snake,” which is where I started. I had done an initial double snake illustration (Fig. 31) and posted it to the web as I had for Sweetheart, expecting it to die quietly in my sketchbook. Murray Tinkelman was pleased, and suggested that I craft new heads for the snakes. I redrew the snakes, giving them much simpler heads and a designed overlap. I pared back the embellishment.

Fig.32 Q. Cassetti, Robert Burn’s Valentine 2009 Pen and ink, digital

The fruit in the bottom half of the valentine came from the Garden of Eden sketches (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the fruit that Eve gave Adam to impart knowledge was never defined in the Genesis story in any of the translations I had read. I had used the pomegranate in my Eden illustrations, speaking to fertility and resurrection in the Persephone story within a Middle Eastern context. I placed a pomegranate within this valentine for the same reason. Robert Burn’s Valentine (Fig. 32) I wanted to do a rose valentine because roses are so closely tied to love, romance, and marriage. The Scots poet, Robert Burns (1759–1796), compared his love to a rose in the 1794 poem, Oh, My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose:

“ O my Luve’s like a red, red rose That’s newly sprung in June: O my luve’s like the melodie That’s sweetly play’d in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass, So deep in luve am I: And I will luve thee still, my dear Till a’ the seas gang dry:

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi’ the sun; I will love thee still, my dear, While the sand o’ life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only Luve, And fare thee weel, awhile! And I will come again, my Luve, Tho’ it were ten thousand mile.”

Fig. 33 Q. Cassetti Entwined Study, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

Burns may be sappy and morose, but isn’t that the wonder of valentines? Some can be sweet, some sappy, some fulsome and rich, some sad, and some tragic, much the way of human life and relationships. The intent of this valentine was to have the forms wind outward toward the edges of the heart, which is opposite to the inward winding forms in Love Lock. I was curious to see what would happen to the form? Would it be as strong as the Love Lock form? I wanted to use a very few colors while combining a lattice pattern with the background (inspired by Bee Mine, Fig. 24). Entwined (Fig. 33) I love large sea creatures. I am always looking for a reason to create a picture with one or many of these beings. I created a heart-shaped octopus (Fig. 34), allowing its tentacles to form the heart without a background device, a frame, or a heart-shaped form behind it to suggest a valentine. When this single octopus was finished, something was missing. I liked the form and the idea, but it didn’t feel right. There needed to be two creatures, to suggest love and commitment. The water pattern and the sea plants were created in ink and brought into the final drawing in Adobe Photoshop along with the flat colors assigned to the drawing. My Heart is in the Work: Andrew Carnegie’s Valentine (Fig. 35) Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) was a very influential Victorian who changed lives through his philanthropy and global influence. Andrew Carnegie’s motto was “My Heart is in the Work,” which has become one of my favorite mottoes. It captures my belief that work inspires excellence, understanding and growth. This has been true the study and pursuit of illustration.

Fig. 34 (left) Q. Cassetti Octopus Heart, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

I wanted to revisit the looped design of Love Lock (Fig. 28) with the stems forming the outside of the valentine, but using a lighter, happier theme. I wanted to integrate a pattern with this design using a brighter, friendlier palette.

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Fig. 35 (upper left) Q. Cassetti My Heart is in the Work: Andrew Carnegieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Valentine, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

Fig. 36 (upper right) Q. Cassetti Forever, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

Fig. 37 Gravestone of Joseph Dolbeare,1621 Carved stone Granary Burial Ground, Boston, Mass.

Fig. 38 Gravestone of Matthew Skinner,1713 Carved stone Granary Burial Ground, Boston, Mass.

Fig. 39 Gravestone of Captain Richard Lakeman, Jr.,1821 Carved stone Ipswich Burial Ground, Ipswich, Mass.

Fig. 40 Gravestone of Hannah Grant,1833 Carved stone Ipswich Burial Ground, Ipswich, Mass.

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Forever (Fig. 36) I couldn’t resist the macabre idea of a Forever valentine informed by from the Memento Mori work. It seemed like a fit—though not the sunniest valentine. I am intrigued by the need of the early New Englanders to decorate their personal memorials. These people eschewed many trappings of the Church, including religious decoration and symbolism, but curiously encoded their gravestones with images suggesting their beliefs in this passage from this life to the next. The winged skulls, or spirit effigies (Figs. 37, 38), representing the physical spirit passing to another plane, are found on many early New England gravestones. The heart shape is not predominant in the gravestone vocabulary, but I found Matthew Skinner’s marker intriguing in its combination of the spirit effigy and the dominant heart. The willow tree represents life eternal on early Puritan gravestones (Figs. 39, 40). The rose is a symbol for love. I Love Fu (Fig. 41) The Hartford Art School’s March 2009 contact meeting was in San Francisco, California. I adore the color, scent, and sights of San Francisco’s Chinatown. I wanted to combine my love for Chinatown Gate’s Fu dog and experiment with background textures and patterns derived from the textiles, paper, and ceramics sold in the stores we visited. The dog was created as a single piece with the heart and lanterns being a flipped image. The cloud background, the scallop pattern, lantern and lettering were created as a individual inked drawings. All were merged and colored in Adobe Photoshop. Double Happiness (Fig. 42) This valentine is inspired by San Francisco’s Chinatown, the sights, symbols, colors, and patterns that excited me during the Hartford Spring contact period. I am inspired by patterned and illustrative blue-and-white china, whether it be Chinese, European, or even American. The plethora of overlapping patterns, the simple palette, the repetition of the double happiness symbol found on fabrics, ceramics, and packaging in San Francisco’s Chinatown was the prompt for Double Happiness. This valentine was hand drawn in pen and ink and digitially colored in Adobe Photoshop. Fig. 41 (top) Q. Cassetti I Love Fu, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

Fig. 42 (bottom) Q. Cassetti Double Happiness, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

MARKETING The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, behind Christmas. The marketing opportunity is pretty clear. There is a demand for new illustration each year to meet the demand, particularly in high-end, more sophisticated imagery.

writing and rights-free poetry. I see this valentine publication being the launch of a quarterly or biannual way of bringing a wide body of work to my design and future illustration clients. Additionally, with the goals of two to four annual publication dates, the publishing deadline will drive small bodies of work beyond the graduate school. Licensing

Valentines celebrate life, love, relationships, and the sweetness surrounding the love between people. As love is such a universal, I feel that these images have appeal beyond the annual February 14th celebration. My plans are to market myself through these works and to sell the rights to these images in a range of venues. Self Promotion Shows and Publication Competitions This body of work gives me a sizable collection of images to enter into respected shows and publications such as The Society of Illustrators (New York), The Society of Illustrators (Los Angeles), Communication Arts Magazine’s Illustration Annual, Communication Arts Magazine’s Design Annual, American Illustration, Creative Quarterly Magazine, 3x3 Magazine, Print Magazine. Personal Print Promotion I will send valentines to my expanding list of clients and friends next February as a way to promote my work and stay in friendly contact. I will also send the Forever valentine at Halloween as a twist on the theme. I plan on taking six of the designs and having single-color polymer plates created for letterpress printing on a thick, rag stock available for sale from my web site, blog, and local venues. These cards will also serve as good samples when approaching licensing and the high-end stationery and card companies. Self Publishing I have always admired the newsprint promotional pieces that promoted creative work to creative people in the late 1970s to mid ‘80s. Herb Lubalin’s “U&lc” and the inspired Pushpin Graphic Monthly from the Pushpin Studios were leaders in this area. Given the inexpensive nature of on-demand printing, taking this method of self promotion, writing, and illustration and applying it to my own work makes sense. With an earlier body of work, Memento Mori, I created two Lulu (www.lulu.com), on-demand books that I have sold to individuals and used as a high-end leave-behind for clients of my design business. I plan on creating a simple promotional book with these illustrations with personal

I plan to learn more about the business of licensing through attending Surtex, the licensing fair in New York City in May, 2009 and possibly another such event in Las Vegas in June 2010. Additionally, I plan on consulting with Cheryl Phelps on creating a plan and approach for this work. Once I have a better grasp of the approaches to take, I am prepared to invest between $5,000 and $7,500. to market this body of work as an entry into this area. I will expand the current body of work with at least a dozen more “intentional” valentines, those that more directly speak to love along with a series of overall patterns and spot illustrations. From that, I will develop a few applications to show how these images could be used in a variety of segments (paper goods, print collateral and cards, puzzles, needlepoint/stitchery kits, embroidered pillows, and hand-hooked rugs). Independent Glass Designs Steuben Glass Steuben Glass has been a customer of mine for ten years. I have worked for them as a graphic designer and am evolving into a provider of illustrations and illustration support. I know their annual needs (new valentines, new holiday designs, new corporate images, new high-end designs) and many of these reflected designs would work (with little modification) on existing blanks in their line. I intend on presenting these to Steuben as pre-existing art for them to select from or as a starting points for designs that may better dovetail with the look and feel for the coming year. Creating my own brand/line I am a big fan of creating alternative lines of income. I feel this is a great way to extend yourself and garner some profit that our clients are normally the beneficiaries of. I plan to meet with the lead buyer at the Corning Museum of Glass Marketplace. The Marketplace is a series of glass boutiques that features everything from artists’ work down to glass casserole dishes and tumblers. They have jewelry, holiday ornaments, lighting, telescopes, and optical fiber products. As long as it’s glass, there is a place within this small department store.

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Popular among the 400,000 visitors who come to Corning to see the Museum of Glass are locally made glass objects and products that function as souvenirs. The Museum is on the lookout for this sort of thing and many local artists create things specifically for this market. There is a room for me to enter this arena with illustration-based products.

I know that this illustration style is well suited for sandblasting on glass. The style is definitive and strong, which means the lines will hold. All of these pieces originate as black-and-white illustrations, so I will have scaleable art without any further work.

I am going to propose to the Marketplaceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s buyer that we work together to develop some defined, short-run products at specific price points. I plan on using the valentines as the lead artwork and lead holiday in this process. I will select and procure glass blanks from established resources such as crystalworld.com. I plan to hire skilled artisans who are established in glass sandblasting in Corning and rent time at the Corning Museum of Glass Studio for the artisans to use the shops. They will apply my illustrations to established shapes. We will package and deliver these limited editions to the Museum and see how it goes. Local design and illustration, local artisans and local packaging. We will be buying the blanks from outside the area, but not outside the range of opportunity to consider making one-off specials in the Corning area with friends who are artists.

I have marketed and sold the rights to images I have developed independently on other projects to local and regional wineries for their labels. These valentine illustrations have the same potential in the future.

I will work directly with the Museum team along with my office manager to drive this project forward. If we are successful, we will continue to evolve the product line with the Museum and possibly shop these same designs at a bigger venue, such as Crate and Barrel or high-end gift stores such as Gumps, Neiman Marcus, or catalog stores. This work could be rolled into the licensing work and under the Q. brand.

Another approach will be to attend the Stationery Show in New York (May 2009), which runs concurrently with Surtex, the licensing show. I will investigate if there is interest in my providing engraved or letterpress cards, acting as illustrator and finished-goods provider. I want to see whether it is better to sell the rights to a manufacturer/marketing organization that will produce the final goods, or to provide the entire product to the end seller.

Food and Wine Labelling

Greeting Card Companies I will research and develop a strategy around how to approach the right greeting-card companies. These valentines are not mainstream visuals but need to be marketed to a high-end customer at a higher production value, either through letterpress or engraving. I plan to investigate opportunities through Mrs. John L. Strong (www.mrsstrong.com) in either a â&#x20AC;&#x153;bespokeâ&#x20AC;? category; or through Crane & Co. (www.crane.com) or Tiffany and Co. for the same.

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

PROGRAM I decided I needed a change. Nothing too big or monumental, but something that might give me a boost in my attitude about graphic design that a 25-year career and a solid four-year professional education had begun to wear down. I had managed internal groups, consulting groups, and finally my own small shop. I had worked with many facets of the design business for all sorts of interesting markets from heavy industry to luxury goods to the medical business to the beauty business, bringing my skills and knowledge to bear on the projects presented to me. Whether it was lipids or lipsticks, diamonds or dog oncology—there was a methodology and approach that was and still is successful for me and delighted my customers.

program and the caliber of students I was to encounter. I had no idea of the personal change I was to experience through my studies and work in illustration. The first two weeks of the program were wrenching—forcing me out of the status quo and into a place where I could succeed. I had to find and forge a style. I had to come to grips with the fact that I was now a content provider and not an orchestrator. I was switching channels and switching them hard and fast.

Graphic design was all I knew. In 2005, I was relieved to have just taken a big risk—walking away from a job that represented over a half of my billing because it was neither satisfying nor was the compensation equal to the energy and output the client received. When left with this gap in my schedule, I discovered I was bored. Maybe a class or two might shake me up a bit and engage me in thinking about my work in a fresh way?

What did the Hartford Art School M.F.A. in Illustration program do for you?

I started my illustration education with the hope that I might hone some of my skills, make some new friends, essentially tweak what was in place. I had no idea of the

But, I believe, the greater the risk, the greater the payback. My graduate work in illustration is a testament to taking this chance.

Hartford gave me permission to be myself. What I mean is that Hartford is personally focused and continually pushes you back on yourself. “What do you think about this idea? What was your impression of this speaker? What would you do to take this illustration further? What topic would you like to work with? How do you plan on marketing this body of work? How do you define success? What is your path?” It is not a program for those looking for direction from others, but guidance for you to begin to answer some questions and ask others. It is a program that prepares you to constantly push yourself, challenge the obvious, go beyond the client and beyond the trends. It is a program that demanded I be myself. I discovered that after a career of being secondary to client, market, and content, I actually had a point of view and personal style and could represent myself as a graphic designer and illustrator. Hartford gave me permission and the confidence to be me. Hartford gave me more than a few tweaks to my existing career. From the beginning I was surprised. I learned about design and illustration history in a way that was never taught to me as an undergraduate. I was given context for the work we see to day, exposed to the museums, thinkers, and illustrators that devote themselves to illustration. I learned about illustration and illustrators through presentations, excellent teaching, and by writing and reading—a world that surprisingly overlapped with my graphic design world and enriched my understanding. All the while, embraced by this new community, which is for me far more open and engaged than that of design. I had a new home.

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

The Business of Illustration course taught by Jim Carson detailed all aspects of what it is to be an illustrator, write a contract, promote yourself, rights and ownership, down to the responsibility to promote yourself and plan your path. My business plan was written specifically for my illustration work—but ran parallel that of my design work. The two meshed and built each other. Neither stood alone. My current clients have benefitted by my better understanding and offerings. I have new clients because of this shift in business and scope. National Recognition I had given up applying to graphic design competitions because of either employers not valuing it, requiring it, or having hesitation due to competitive advantage. I gauged my success as a designer by maintaining my existing client base, sharing their fiscal measurements of success and incrementally building more business from that relationship.

With careful shepherding, pointed education, and planning beyond graduation day, this encore career will grow from a solid, planned base. I know, thanks to my experience and exposure at Hartford, that illustration careers just don’t happen at 21. And, for those who are impassioned, they don’t end at 55, or 63, but continue on. Older illustrators—like Betsy and Ted Lewin, Bart Forbes, Arnold Roth, Burt Silverman, Diane and Leo Dillon, Don Ivan Punchatz, or Murray Tinkelman—have continued on their very successful paths producing excellent illustration and teaching, and bringing a new generation along with them. Some—like Dennis Ziemienski, Lou Brooks, Joe Ciardello, José Cruz, and Zina Saunders—feel that by speaking with their personal voice through projects that mean something to themselves, they can create new opportunities, new projects, new illustrations that excite them and keep them vital. These illustrators cited that this was the sort of work they wanted to do and develop as they continued in their careers. This is a place they have evolved to—and I feel I am right there with them.

But with the prod from the Business of Illustration class, the drumbeat of the Hartford program’s “promote yourself,” the quiet competition of my fellow students and alumni, entering competitions and shows has become more of a sport for me. I have been surprised and delighted since entering the program by being accepted into some of the most prestigious national shows and publications for my work. It is a new stage for me, my images, and my point of view. “Encore” Career I have recently heard this phrase used about the next chapter, the next career that women are embarking on after fifty. Now there is a catchall name for this thinking, which somehow validates the inkling I had prior to starting this program: “What’s next?” Did I view the status quo as what I wanted to do in ten years? In twenty years? I had a hope, a wild hope for me that illustration might be a place to alight, a place to develop and grow beyond the strictures of graphic design. The more I have been engaged in my education, the more these hopes are something very real, very tangible, and very possible.

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

CONCLUSION My experience with the Hartford program has been too quick. I came to the program newly hatched as an illustrator with an M.A. and one thing that I could do. Less than a year later, I have evolved to better understanding of what decorative illustration is and how I am part of this outstanding segment of illustrators. I now say with confidence that I am an illustrator along with being a graphic designer. My design sensibilities and experience enhance my illustration and vice versa. I am doubly enriched.

I have learned that I have to give back to myself through illustration, education, and inspiration that museums, travel, and art-related experiences provide. I had run myself into a rut of being a workaday designer, “getting the job done” without any personal growth. I know that in addition to being a designer, mom, and wife—seemingly there was no time for me, but if I were to do it again, I would know that it is critical that we all take time for ourselves, and not lose the “me.”

My mentor and friend, Murray Tinkelman, has by example and conversation taught me that it’s an honor to be a decorative illustrator, part of a long tradition of those of us who see the world as flat. For us, the horizon may be a straight line, but there are a lot of surfaces to detail and things to noodle to get there.

I have learned that good teaching comes from thoughtful insights, gently posed and timed. Education comes by pointing a way or exposure to the right person or work. Education should inspire trust and friendship—not through knocking the student down, but by pointing up what is good. Education should encourage and inspire. Murray Tinkelman lives this approach and is one of the wisest teachers I have ever had. His teaching has changed me fundamentally.

I have learned a great deal in such a short time. I have learned that the vector work from my M.A. experience is not one thing and the decorative work another. Both flow from my brain, my hand, my understanding of design and communications—just another style among many to come. Many styles and approaches are part of the DNA of many decorative illustrators. I have learned that my work needs to flow from content that I love or feel strong affinity to. If the content isn’t right, the work becomes tedious and stops. I can only work with an idea inflames me. That content, once a body of work is completed, can emerge in the next set of images—not lie dormant. Each image builds the next. Each body of work builds the next. The work evolves. The content evolves. The styles emerge through each experience. I have learned that I love the process as much as the final illustration. I love research and reading to prepare for the work. I love sketching and drawing to think out the illustration(s). And I love the wonder of the pen on marvelous paper—how the ink flows and joins with the surface, how the pencils feel and work with the pen; the wonder of tracing paper and how it can change a design and your thinking. I have, through these valentines, come to love revising the illustrations, rethinking aspects of the design, redrawing the parts and bettering the piece. I have learned that I want only one client, myself. If I create an illustration that is appropriate, I can sell it to my existing clients, or go find clients who will want it. I believe that if the work is good, there will be applications.

Education comes through having the right environment, the right growing medium to spur growth. Hartford Art School Dean Power Boothe and Associate Dean Tom Bradley have provided that medium through the use of the beautiful facilities at The University of Hartford. They have provided support and friendship to all of us, which sets this program apart from others. Carol Tinkelman is key to this environment, with all the spade work she does from recruiting, promoting, scheduling, and organizing. Carol is the one who brings the cookies on the bus, or makes candies for the first day. Carol brings the “touch” that personalizes the Hartford experience for many of us. We would be lost without her efforts, her concern, and her friendship. Education comes through witty match-making in team teaching, speakers, or classes. Murray Tinkelman is the best out there. He has created a universe of illustrators, educators, and friends that he deftly mixes and matches and quietly waits to see what happens. Murray’s pairings within the classroom or in the field during the contact sessions with the wide range of illustrators who come to speak are sensitive and inspired. He would invite speakers (in a few cases, “I had this one for you, Q.”) that had a message, a medium, or came from a similar background to my own. Murray would allow those illustrators to do the teaching and inspiring, Yoda-like, knowing what the outcome would be before the talk was completed. Thanks to Murray’s long reach and deft skills, we have had a peerless group of educators that I have been honored to work with, learn form, and laugh with.

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Kudos I would like to thank Doug Andersen and Bill Thomson (my unofficial critic) for their good input, thinking, and guidance. I love Bunny Carter and Dennis Nolan for their hard push and kind guidance during the first week. I delighted in their pairing, their wit (the family tree of illustrators and educators, for one), and as pedagogical models. They inspire through the passion they bring to illustration, illustration history, art history, writing, and the making of art. They are at the top of their game, and I have been pleased to experience this team in action. I adore Ted and Betsy Lewin (dates unknown) for their knowledge and experience paired with their love for their work, their audiences, and for each other. They inspire me as illustrators and people who make a difference with their vitality, intelligence, and humor. Vin Di Fate (dates unknown) brought humor, affection, and depth of knowledge to his History of Genres class that inspired and pushed many of us to explore new areas of illustration. His personal honesty and vision created conversation, opinion, and learning for many of us. Jim Carson (dates unknown) taught the Business of Illustration course, which I had a chance to take for a second time. This class and his personal stories inspired me to be more assertive with my own business and with copyright issues that have surfaced with my clients. Jim Carsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s class has saved me money and has given me permission to walk away from jobs that I might have taken in the past. He is a treasure. My peers at the Hartford Art School were wonderful guides and teachers. Their trials and tribulations, successes and flubs were all insightful and educational. They are an outstanding group of intelligent, talented illustrators who give to each other as if familyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;sharing time, instruction, and skills. These students give of and to each other fostered in a spirit of support, understanding, and quiet competitiveness that does not exist in any other experience I have ever had.

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

BIOGRAPHY Education 2009

Master of Fine Arts, Illustration Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, West Hartford, Conn.

2007 Master of Arts, Illustration Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y. 1979

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Design with University Honors Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Since 1980, I have been a practicing graphic designer with a career of producing recognized graphic design in publications, logo and symbol design, packaging, overall brand development, catalogs, and specialty print projects. I have worked within corporate environments as a designer as well as a design director who manages teams of people. I have worked in-house for Corning Incorporated, Tiffany and Co., EstĂŠe Lauder, and several consulting companies. In 1997, I established Luckystone Partners. Luckystone Partners has been doing graphic design, packaging design, product design, catalogs, and print collateral and branding consulting for Quest Diagnostics, Steuben Glass, T. Rowe Price, Corning Incorporated, The Corning Museum of Glass, The Arnot Art Museum, Cornell University, The Baker Institute for Animal Health, and Geisinger Health Systems. Since 2005, I have offered illustration to existing clients of Luckystone Partners. Illustration has broadened the scope of work we have done, including wine labels, interior murals for Cornellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Baker Institute, multiple holiday and thank-you cards, and turning a graphics account into illustration for products or product development for Steuben Glass. In April, 2009, I became an artist member of the Society of Illustrators, New York City.

Professional Illustration Work Current illustration clients include:

For Profit JuiceBox Wine Company, Worcester, Mass. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, Madison, N.J. Steuben Glass, New York, N.Y. Nonprofit The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, N.Y. The Baker Institute for Animal Health, Cornell University Cornell School for Veternary Medicine, Ithaca, N.Y. Ithaca Triathlon Musicians and Artists The Chicken Chokers, Trumansburg, N.Y., and Boston, Mass. Carol Elizabeth Jones, Charlottesville, Va, Illustration Shows, Exhibitions, and Publications 2009 (to date) Communication Arts Illustration Annual 50 Creative Quarterly 15, 2 winners (one a bronze), 2 merits and one runner up. Society of Illustrators 51 ( New York, N.Y.) (show, travelling show, publication) Society of Illustrators, Illustration West 47, Los Angeles, Calif. (4 pieces) 2008 Recipient of Merit Scholarship, University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, Limited Residency Program in Illustration Presidential Fellow Merit Scholarship, University of Hartford Society of Illustrators 50: Exhibit and Book Society of Illustrators, Illustration West 46, Los Angele Calif., Exhibit and web site American Illustration 3x3 Magazine Annual Show Communication Arts Illustration Annual49 Communication Arts Design Annual CASE Awards: Gold Medal, illustration for The Baker Institute for Animal Health Holiday Card. Member of the Ithaca Art Trail Ithaca Art Trail Show, State of the Art Gallery Selected as one of the two artists for the Syracuse Poster Project. 2007 Member of the Ithaca Art Trail Ithaca Art Trail Show, State of the Art Gallery University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

BIBLIOGRAPHY Bradley, Will. Will Bradley: His Graphic Art. Ed. Clarence P. Hornung and Roberta W. Wong. The Dover Edition ed. Minneapolis: Dover Publications, Incorporated, 1974. Calasso, Roberto. Ka: Stories of the Mind and Gods of India. Vintage International ed. New York: Vintage Books, 1999. Casillas, Mercurio L. Posada: Illustrator of Chapbooks. Vol. 2. Japan: R. M. Editorial, S.A. de C.V., 2005. Chakraverty, Anjan. Indian Miniature Painting. New York: Roli Books Private, Limited, 2005. Enzo, Carli. Sienese Painting. New York: Scala Books, 1983. Kossak, Steven. Indian Court Painting, 16th–19th Century. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997. Lopez Casillas, Mercurio. Manuel Manilla: Grabador Mexicano/Mexican Engraver: Monografia de 598 Estampas/ Monograph of 598 Prints. Vol. 1. Madrid: R. M. Editorial, S.A. de C.V., 2005. Muller-Brockmann, Josef, and Shizuko Muller-Brockmann. History of the Poster. New York: Phaidon P Limited, 2004. Posada, José G. Posada’s Popular Mexican Prints. Ed. Robert Berdecio and Stanley Appelbaum. Minneapolis: Dover Publications, Incorporated, 1973. Purvis, Alston W., and Martijn F. Le Coultre. A Century of Posters. New York: Lund Humphries, 2003. Roob, Alexander. Alchemy and Mysticism. Los Angeles: TASCHEN, 2001. Rossi, Barbara, Roy C. Craven, and Stuart Cary Welch. From the Ocean of Painting: India’s Popular Painting Traditions A. D. 1589 to the Present. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Varnedoe, Kirk. Vienna 1900: Art, Architecture, Design. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1986.

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Q. Cassetti, Un Chapeau dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Amour, 2009 Pen and ink, digital University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Q. Cassetti, Finch Valentine, 2009 Pen and ink, digital University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Q. Cassetti Indian Tiger Valentine, 2009 Pen and ink, digital University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Q. Cassetti Sweetness, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Fig. 24 Q. Cassetti Bee Mine, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Q. Cassetti Garden of Love, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Q. Cassetti Sweetheart, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Q. Cassetti Love Lock, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Q. Cassetti Robert Burnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Valentine, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Q. Cassetti Entwined, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Q. Cassetti My Heart is in the Work: Andrew Carnegieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Valentine, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Q. Cassetti Forever, 2009 Pen and ink, digital University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Fig. XX Q. Cassetti, I Love Fu, 2009, Pen and ink, digital

Q. Cassetti I Love Fu, 2009 Pen and ink, digital

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

Q. Cassetti Double Happiness, 2009 Pen and ink, digital University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009

This paper was designed and illustrated by Q. Cassetti, Trumansburg, N.Y. All illustrations were developed between July 1, 2008, and June 1, 2009. All valentines were created between January to May, 2009. All valentines were hand-drawn with pen and ink and finished on an Apple Tower computer running Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator (CS2). The type font for this paper is Whitney designed by Tobias Frere-Jones (www.typography.com) for the Whitney Museum. Whitney spans the sans serif “gothics” and “humanists” fonts for clear legibility in print.

University of Hartford, Hartford Art School, M.F.A. in Illustration A Collection of Valentines: Pursuing a Decorative Illustration Style Q. Cassetti July, 2009