"Already as a child I loved copying fairy tale and comic strip heroes, and other illustrations. As a teenager I had other interests, and my childhood fascination with artistic creation remained unfulfilled until five years ago, when I surrendered to my friend's persuasion and bought canvas and acrylic paints. It was the start, and I have been painting since then," Črnjavič recalls his creative beginnings, and continues: "There is a huge difference between my early paintings and what I paint now – from the initial drifting between different motives and styles, discovering my true self and my own manner of expression. I dare say I have perfected my own distinctive motifs and style."

Matej's LULO brand is the result of his friends' influence; they wanted to buy his paintings, but he truly hates to part with them. The artist, a public servant in »normal life«, dedicated a lot of thought to finding the solution for this problem – how to satisfy the interest of other people in his works, and his own reluctance to part with it. "So I thought of products which would have practical use as well." Last year he started transferring paintings to the notebook covers using the manual transfer technique, which besides its characteristic appearance also guarantees that not even two products are equal. Next he started with reproductions on wood, and soon the motives from his paintings will be available as brooches and lockets.

Every single piece is unique
Every piece looks special, and appears hand painted; the effect is achieved by the manual transfer technique. "It is not a complicated procedure, but it is very time consuming. I start by photographing a painting, and then use computer to prepare them for printing. The surface to which the motif will be transferred is then painted with white acrylic paint, and then covered with a special medium for transfer of photos, and the printed photo of the painting glued to the surface. It dries overnight, and then comes the third step, which is the most demanding, and requires precision and patience. The paper on which the photo was printed has to be removed from the surface – I rinse the surface with water until all the traces of paper are removed, and only the printed motif remains. And finally, I apply a coat of varnish, to assure the durability of the print. But it is worth the effort – you must have noticed that it looks as if it were hand painted. Which is not the case, but each is unique due to the manner of transfer of the motif; slight variations occur, and the result is slightly different each time."