Steve Madden + Stencil1

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.