We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Loretta Tedeschi-cuoco a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Loretta thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I was first exposed to art in Kindergarten, when I fingerpainted artwork onto my teacher’s dress. As you might imagine, this moment of creative expression didn’t go over well with my teacher or my mother (who was tasked with having my teacher’s dress cleaned) but this incident didn’t discourage my desire to make art. Unsurprisingly, art supplies were considered too messy by my mom, and were not allowed in our home.

Consequently, I thrived in every art class I ever took during grammar school and High School. My work was always the first up on the classroom wall and I was happy to help my friends who struggled with their work. I always wondered why these assignments came so easily to me and why I was so naturally gifted at art, I was so lucky. It makes me smile to remember all the annotations in my HS Yearbook that proclaimed I was “Most likely to become an Artist!”

Beginning at around age 10, I used to look forward to my dad bringing home the New York Times on Sundays, along with freshly baked bagels. I had first crack at the newspaper. I’d take the Magazine section, along with the “Fashions of the Times” section, because that’s where all the drawings were. Each department store had their own look, because each employed their own in-house artist with their individualized drawing style. I loved Sundays! I’d spend my days copying the drawings from the newspaper and knew this is what I wanted to do when I grew up – to be a commercial illustrator!

In the 1960’s, I attended an all-girl, Catholic HS. In those days, career path choices for girls were limited to being a secretary, a nurse or a teacher – none of which interested me. After showing the drawings that I created from the NYT to my teachers at St Brendan’s, they informed me that the professional title of what I aspired to be was “Fashion Illustrator”. To this day, I am grateful to Mrs Izzo and Mrs Charpentier for guiding me to apply to the “Fashion Institute of Technology” in New York. These wonderful women guided me through the daunting process of developing a portfolio that met all the school’s requirements.

At FIT I received a rigorous training in the Art of Fashion Illustration, which I continue to reference in the classes that I teach. Upon graduation, I was awarded a monetary prize for Excellence in Illustration by the Jonathan Logan Company and I felt so honored by this distinction.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

When I was a Senior at the Fashion Institute of Technology, the Creative team from Martin’s Department store in Brooklyn, came to FIT to recruit an illustrator for their store. They reviewed the portfolios of the 75 graduating students. Mine was among the three students selected to interview with the owner of the store. I made myself a suit, purchased the appropriate accessories and booked the interview. I was over the moon to land the job! I had imagined this scenario from the age of 10, and now it had happened!

Until it didn’t. My “dream job” lasted 6 months whereby my fashion illustrations had appeared in the newspaper every week. I learned that the Creative Director and his team were happy with my work, but the owner was not. I was unceremoniously let go. I was devastated.

My always supportive husband helped me pivot into a retail position at Gimbles NY. Over a two and a half year period, I worked my way up from Salesperson to Group Manager to Assistant Buyer in women’s apparel. It was interesting to learn more about the inner workings of the Fashion Industry and I enjoyed a few moments of true success as a Merchant, but my heart just wasn’t in it.

Once again, my husband urged me to make a plan to return to my art. Serendipitously, I received a call from a college friend about a job that had opened at her office. She worked at a trend reporting service called the Tobe Report. There, top buyers in retail focused on trends that were happening in their areas and the staff artists would sketch the looks that were then printed in the report on a weekly basis. I worked there for one and a half years.

Every Monday, the artists were tasked to visit showrooms in the Garment Center and do a quick “croquis” sketch that they’d bring back to the studio. Each sketch was redrawn into a finished illustration to be printed for the publication. During my tenure at Tobe, I visited numerous showrooms and completed countless drawings. I learned how to do this quickly and expertly. Through Tobe, I had built a long list of free lance clients to the point that I needed to leave leave my full time job and work exclusively as a free lancer. I enjoyed the pressure and excitement of managing my own schedule, which became more challenging in 1978 when I started my 30 year long service of teaching Fashion Illustration and Design at Parsons School of Design!

My client list included a prestigious list of manufacturers and designers. A short list included: Polo Ralph Lauren, Burberry’s, Fisher Camuto Shoes, NIKE, Courtald’s Fabric, Jeremy Spencer, Disney, Calderon Belts and Bags, Tapemeasure, Shrader Sport, Santo Donato Advertising, Silk Farm, Adagio, Robert Tonner Dolls and Dance Basics to name a few. I managed my calendar that highlighted the due dates of when a project was due. Between that schedule, and being an adjunct faculty member at Parsons, I became expert at time management. I recall many a deadline – from dropping off story boards at an adversing agency on a Saturday morning at 6am to having a client picking up a project at my home on their way to JFK to catch a flight to a meeting in Atlanta – where my stamina and perseverance were put to the test. My work was always top notch and delivered on time. My clients respected and trusted this trait me, which is invaluable.

During my 30 years of freelancing in NYC, I enjoyed the creating the diversity of work I was able to produce for a variety of clients. What set me apart from other Fashion Illustrators was my ability to provide what the client needed in a timely and efficient way. Depending on their needs, I produced Presentation Boards (that would illustrate the next collection of a designer’s line), Posters to decorate their showroom, Illustrations to be printed in publications such as WWD, Glamour, Vogue Magazine and the the NYTimes, story boards for an agency, even artwork to be silkscreened onto one manufacturer’s garments. It was exciting to see my work in print again! I became proficient at pivoting between illustrating accessories and apparel for women, men and children.

At one point in my career, I was offered a staff job in theArt Department at Ralph Lauren. Upon careful consideration, I declined it. I was fortunate enough that my husband had comprehensive family benefits, which I didn’t have to consider when making my decision. Had I taken the corporate job, I would have had to leave teaching and lose the wonderfully diverse list of clients I had developed other the years. Working as a freelancer afforded me the opportunity to participate in many other activities that would have been lost while working a 9-5 (or 7-7) job at RL. The biggest benefit of “being my own boss” was having the chance to be so present in the raising of our daughter. By making my own hours, which sometimes included pulling an all-nighter, my husband, daughter and I experienced a full, crazy and wonderful family life. I was able to achieve a work/life balance and for that, I am grateful.

Happily, that skillset has transitioned well with our relocation to Arizona 8 years ago. Since 2018, I’ve worked as a live event sketch artist with luxury brand retailers. I have the ability to give the client what they require…from doing fashion illustrations of the clientele at Ferragamo, or creating keepsake trinket boxes for the clients at David Yurman, or painting portraits of the clients at Cartier.

When the client is happy, I am happy.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish I’d know more about the business side of launching a free lance art business.

The training I received to become a Fashion Illustrator at the Fashion Institute of Technology was incomparable. I still use practices that I learned there, when teaching future fashion designers about anatomy and how fabric drapes on the body.
But, there were no business courses available for art students, which is absurd.

When I launched my freelance business in 1980, I knew nothing about operating a business. I learned the how-tos through trial and error, asking friends, tax advisors and the like for advice. Unfortunately I still think that creatives, particularly at the beginning of their careers, are at a huge disadvantage when it comes to understanding the value of their work and then setting and negotiating a fee structure based on how the work is going to be used.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

I’m not clear on what NFTs or Crypto Currency is. I find the idea of spending money on an amorphous idea is not part of my reality. I guess the short answer is, I don’t sell NFTs of my work and wouldn’t even know how to do that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/loretta-tedeschi-cuoco-11455
• Instagram: @art_ltc