'Valériane et Romarin' (Grand Coeur #25, 1946).
Marie Jaminet was a Belgian illustrator for the Catholic press and its youth movements. In 1946, she also appeared in the short-lived Belgian comic weekly Grand Coeur, drawing the serial 'Valériane et Romarin' (1946) from a script by Madeleine Charlier.
Illustrator
Not much information about the artist Marie Jaminet is known. During the 1930s and 1950s, she made illustrations for several Catholic publications in Belgium. Her work included devotional illustrations, drawings for the Catholic youth movement Le Patro and several Scout/youth novels written by Norman Dale and Father Albert Hublet for Éditions Desclée De Brouwer. Her work with Hublet included the books 'Marée Grise' (1947), 'Les "Masque rouge"' (1948), 'Mammy' (1949), 'Le Commando de l'Ange' (1952) and 'Service du Roy' (Éditions de l'Œuvre Saint-Augustin, 1954). She also illustrated installments in the book series 'Spirou-Sélection', published by Éditions Dupuis, for instance 'La Petite Marchande de Bonheur' by Simone Saint-Clair. Another booklet with her illustrations was 'Peau d'Ane' (1948), published by Editions Novos in Lausanne.
Grand Coeur
Together with Jenny Collette and Minou, she was among the few female illustrators of Grand Coeur (1945-1947). This short-lived comic magazine was created by the cartoonist Charles Gilbert and Étienne Lamarche, publisher of the newspaper La Gazette de Liège. Since a large part of the material in Grand Coeur was provided by magazine editor Charles Gilbert and students from his graphic arts atelier in Liège, it is possible that Marie Jaminet was also an affiliate of this studio.
'Valériane et Romarin' (Grand Coeur #25, 1946).
The signature of Marie Jaminet first appeared in Grand Coeur issue #8 of 1946, when she contributed a gag strip in the format of a film reel. Between 9 May 1946 and 17 October 1946, she drew the serial 'Valériane et Romarin', scripted by Madeleine Charlier. The tale starts when the rag-and-bone woman Césarine prepares the objects she wants to sell in the city, among them the doll Valériane and the grenadier Romarin. When at night Valériane is kidnapped by "the little man in the fireplace", Romarin goes in pursuit of them on a small porcelain horse. Their journey brings them to a magical forest, where a fairy turns Valériane into a beautiful princess, so she can marry King Blackbeard. In the meantime, the good fairy Belle de Jour turns Romarin into a young man, and helps the two former toy dolls flee. However, if the only way to return the daughter of humble lumberjacks from the dead is to transform back into their doll appearances, the two young lovers do the ultimate sacrifice.
In Grand Coeur issue #51 of 1946, Marie Jaminet returned with a one-shot fairy tale comic spread, titled 'Coeur de Fleurette'.
Illustrations for rules of conduct of the Scouts.