The other night was a little DIY-craft evening for Stencil1. Steve Madden had invited Ed to vamp up their Bdagmar cross-body satchel for a promo giveaway. We went to Vine Wine for a little refreshment (and in addition to our bottle of rose got these great Govino plastic wine glasses that are perfect for the studio). With the banana yellow canvas, Ed had so many stencil styles that would work. Go with a repeat pattern? An iconic image? Ed chose the EVOLVE design by Clark Clark, featured in his forthcoming Stencil Style 101, along with the repeat pattern rainbows. Of it Ed says, “I wanted to feature a guest artist in this project and chose Clark Clark, who is also a political activist. He designed the VOTE stencil for Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and designed the EVOLVE stencil, which is very cool in my opinion. Here’s what Clark Clark said about it:

‘Evolve is a one-word manifesto for my art. I never want to be stagnant, so my art is constantly evolving and adapting to my surroundings, whether it be the community in which I live or the news of the day. Evolution is about diversity, and I am always working on a variety of projects at any given time. My art is also about adapting other artists’ ideas, evolving their work to make it my own. It is in itself an evolution of Robert Indiana’s art. Evolve is a call to action to those who read it—a reminder to never become stuck or too set in their ways.'”

We like the idea of transmitting such an important message on something as ubiquitous as a handbag via something as simple as a stencil. It’s an election year, let’s all think more.


Fashion Night Out

It’s that fun, sparkley time again, Fashion’s Night Out!

Last year I went to several events, shopped, drank, looked at great clothes, all that fun NY nightlife fashion fun. This year I have done a little early shopping and will be doing more of a Fashion’s Night IN, creating a lot of garments and accessories for my next upcoming book Stencil Style. Some things I will be using are Stained by Sharpie Fabric Markers, Martha Stewart Fine Glitter, Clorox Bleach Pens, and my own Stencil1 Sprayers.  Not just t-shirts this time, I’m customizing some huge bangles, a few women’s dress jackets, and men’s ties among other things. Once I get rolling, it tends to become a snowball effect and I want to experiment and see what comes of it. Adding some spray effects to wood bangles, trying combining Martha’s glitter and glass beads for new colors and textures, just getting into it!