My daughter Heather gave me the coolest present for Christmas. There is a website called www.skins.com where you can custom make your own cell phone and ipod covers. She made me a set of cell phone covers from her art and mine. I love them! The first one i’m using was made from my Universal Studios Monsters artwork. I plan to put one of hers on next. Check it out the next time you’re looking for a really cool, really personal gift.
–Charles
Email This Post
...
The New Rochelle Council on the Arts was formed in 1975 and it’s just one of thousands of local arts councils throughout the country that are at the grassroots of supporting and promoting the arts in local communities. They recently asked me to be one of the judges for their upcoming Spring Exhibition. I accepted with honor. Those of you who read this blog know that i am a big proponent of Arts Education and i see my involvement in events like this one as an extension of that. I’m really looking forward to it.
Of course, this means that the New Rochelle Council is also accepting entries for this contest NOW. The deadline for entries is January 1sst and the subject is “Utopioptix: Visions of the Future Then and Now.” You can visit the New Rochelle Council Website for the whole prospectus and information about how to enter. The First Prize will be $500 and the Second Prize will be $250. I encourage all the local artists out there to enter…you never know!
Good Luck!
–Charles
Email This Post
...Charles Fazzino has been commissioned as one of 17 international artists to create an artwork featured in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Soccer Official Poster Edition. This is the second time that Fazzino has worked with FIFA, as he was asked to create a limited edition, 3-D work to celebrate the 2006 World Cup in Germany. As the only American artist in the group, Fazzino is part of a world-class group including seven South African artists and artists from Japan, China, Brazil, Senagal, Ethiopia, and beyond.
The series is available for purchase individually or as a complete 2010 FIFA World Cup Collection. Fazzino stated from his New York Studio: “I am honored to be working with FIFA for the second time. Soccer has become, in a sense, the global language for the sports world. Everyone plays it….everywhere. The World Cup brings the nations together every four years, similar to the way The Olympic Games do. It’s a passionate tournament that has so much significance for so many. I’m glad that through my artistry, I can help people capture those moments forever.”
Project coordinator, Renate Bauer, was recently asked about the connection between soccer and art. She replied that ”art is as much a global phenomenon that speaks a universal language as football. Both also somehow originate from enthusiasm: both can be pursued only with uncompromising passion, talent and effort.”
The entire collection can be seen and purchased at www.2010ArtEdition.de
Email This Post
...My friend Claudia recently brought to my attention a contemporary artist by the name of Joe Fig. Joe has a new book out titled Inside the Painter’s Studio and she thought I might like it. Turns out Joe is a fellow School of Visual Arts graduate and a VERY talented artist. I checked out his website at www.joefig.com and was really really impressed. It amazes me how much his work, although compositionally completely different, reminds me of my own. He has an incredible sense of detail and color. I would describe his art as “still life gone wild.”
Here are a few of his images that i thought were particularly engaging.
This was the first painting I looked at. What a fabulous image. My first thought was that it reminds me of a modern day Norman Rochwell image. Rockwell was famous for telling a whole story with a simple composition. He utilized textures and expressions and details to tell that story. Joe’s painting of the shoes is a simple composition but there’s so much going on. Such detail. There’s a real story in these shoes and looking at the painting makes you want to know what that story is.
![web[1]](http://www.fazzino.com/art-blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/web1.JPG "web[1]")
I absolutely love the chaos and the detail in this painting! The textures are incredible and the emotion is raw and real.
This portrait of Chuck Close is absolutely brilliant! Sit and stare for awhile at the face…you can reach out and touch his shirt…feel the hair on his arms…and to put the artist in front of one of Joe’s compositions is very telling.
I can declare myself a fan of Joe Fig and I hope you check out his work!
Email This Post
...I was recently invited by my friend Paul to visit his Italian restaurant in Fleetwood called Buona Sera. A little over a week ago, i finally made it over there with my wife and a few friends. WHAT A FABULOUS RESTAURANT…and if you’ve been following my blog and website travel features, you KNOW how much i appreciate a good restaurant.
And now for my critique 
– If you go, you MUST start out with the mozzarella topped garlic bread…fresh mozzarella and lots of garlic…just the way i like it! Their pastas are homemade and delicious and i highly recommend the homemade poached pear drizzled in chocolate and caramel port wine topped with fresh whipped cream. I’m getting hungry as i type this.
Thanks to Paul and Scott for a wonderful evening and i plan to visit again soon. If you plan to go, visit their website at www.ristorantebuonasera.com.
Mangia!
–Charles
Email This Post
...
