Every year at this time, students at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design are asked to create their vision of perhaps the most complex four-letter word there is: love. This year, more than 50 students created works, using everything from ink to fiber art to software. All of the pieces have been turned into Valentine's Day e-cards for the students to send to their families and friends, said MCAD spokeswomen Hillary Askew. As a treat to our readers, we offer five of our favorites:

LOVE AT FIRST BITE

Aimee Johnson, 32, has been knitting cupcakes for a few years, after deciding that knitting "full meals on china" was too time-consuming. The cupcakes, ranging from carrot cake to strawberry with a cherry on top, begin at $15 each and nearly sold out before we could get our hands on them for the photo shoot. Johnson tested many careers, including teaching English as a second language and social work, before deciding that she really wanted to be an illustrator. (The cupcakes are just for fun.) Married for five years to St. Paul public defender Ben Johnson, she believes in love at first sight and the magical powers of chocolate. Tonight, she and Ben, who are trying to save money, will make dinner at home. With dessert, of course.

LOVE MEANS NEVER HAVING TO SAY ...

Ben Isikoff, 19, is a freshman who is leaning toward photography or graphic design. Not surprisingly, his digital piece ("Sorry, babe, I don't write love letters, I make art") comes out of real life. "I made this a few months ago for my girlfriend, who wanted a love letter." They've since broken up (ouch), but Isikoff, who is from Tucson, Ariz., still believes in love. "It definitely exists," he said, "but distance creates problems."

LOVE IS ALL THAT MATTERS

Jenny Da, 18, a freshman from Portland, Ore., reminds us that all we really need is, well, you know. Her piece ("My roses are gone, my violets are, too, I have nothing, but I still have you") was drawn with ink, then colored using the Adobe Illustrator software program. Her view on love? "I guess I'm really naive, a hopeless romantic. When you fall in love, your world changes. But," Da confessed, "I haven't fallen in love yet."

TIME TO KISS

Sarah Fowler, 19, had fun Photoshopping Alfred Eisenstaedt's iconic "The Kiss at Times Square," adding a thoroughly modern "Mwah!" The 2008 Perpich Center for Arts Education graduate hopes to become a children's book illustrator or show her paintings in galleries. Fowler, who currently doesn't have a boyfriend, doesn't think anybody should take Valentine's Day too seriously. "It's a fun little holiday."

Gail Rosenblum • 612-673-7350

Star Tribune, Star Tribune
Artwork by MCAD student Bryan Ische

FACE IT, HONEY: IT'S NOT YOU.

Bryan Ische, 21, graduates from MCAD this spring and hopes to find freelance work using his pencil and digital talents. He was listening to "a bunch of love songs" when inspiration for this piece hit. "All the faces were kind of modeled after some interests of mine," the single Ische said with a hearty laugh. "Not that I'm some kind of player." But love, he said, "is hard to find."