February 06, 2023 3 min read
Who’s your ultimate crush? If you had to pick one? For multi-disciplinary visual artist and illustrator Luke John Matthew Arnold,it would have to be Disney’s Aladdin or Mufasa.
Image credit: Pinterest
“Yes, I know Mufasa is a lion, it was just the Daddy vibe he resonated. Aladdin on the other hand was just a complete flirt, never closing that purple vest. I’d sleep with the action figure under my pillow every night.'' said Luke.
Image credit: Pinterest
We had a good ol’ chuckle at that one. Two of Luke’s designs will be featured on LVLY’s iconic flower jars for a limited time only; ‘I Just F*cking Love You’ and ‘You’re Cute As’.
“‘I Just F*cking Love You’ was inspired by that tension and emotional overdrive when you just feel like you can’t express your love enough, so you have to up the ante. Flowers popped in for cute measure.
‘You’re Cute As’ was inspired when I was picking roses on the farm and I love when you find just one lonely but blooming beautiful rose working each petal like it’s a Friday night on the town,” said Luke.
Growing up on Dharawal and Gadigal Land in Sydney, Luke drew much of his design inspiration being surrounded by nature and loves combining his environment with his current state of being or thoughts about someone and something.
“Also, my mouth rolls quicker than my brain so positive, yet crass sh*t just flows freely.” he said.
Luke’s work represents an ethos of equality and inclusivity, using bold colours, symbols and designs. His most recent and proudest moment was lending his artwork to the Australian Marriage Equality campaign.
For us, it’s super important to approach occasions with longstanding traditions of heterosexuality and lovey-dovey cringeness with something fresh, exciting and inclusive.
Asked what an ultimate Saturday night-in would be, Luke said “Wood burning on the fire, dog asleep by it, my fave trackies on and binge watching something like Harry Potter or Scream movies. If I have a fella on the lounge with me, their feet on my lap, both sipping a Shiraz and finding comfort in the fact that pizza is on its way.
And fave rom com? Luke said none other than Pretty Woman of course! How could we not agree more with that one?
That scene where Vivian Ward totally smokes the rude shop assistant, walking in with all of her shopping bags from another store, dressed head to toe in designer clothes to tell her to her face that it was a ‘big mistake, huge’.. Boom.
It brings us to our theme this year, ‘Share the lvly' - not just with your romantic partner (even though they’d absolutely adore it), but with the other loves in your life too - your kids, your besties, your parents, your dog - we know you love them all, so why not use the one chance you get to be all heartfelt and mushy to tell them that you love ‘em too.
Share the lvly got us thinking back to that iconic scene in Pretty Woman. It’s about being kind to those around you, being able to express your love to them and knowing that your impact on them can make a BIG difference. Huge.
Share the lvly, and enjoy LVLY’s new Valentine’s Day range here.
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