Last night was the official 2008 NFL Season Kickoff Celebration. They threw a free concert in New York City's Columbus Circle with Usher, Keith Urban and Natasha Bedingfield. Of course, my favorite of the group is Natasha and i didn't even get to see her perform...i was in the Time Warner Center doing a poster signing for the National Football League at their hospitality party. We were in the Allen Room which was beautiful, overlooking Columbus Circle and full of big screen televisions and a wonderful buffet. I met a lot of great people....including Miami Dolphins Hall-of-Famer Nick Buoniconti - see the picture below.... and signed A LOT of posters. And of course, i was thrilled when the Giants won. I couldn't believe they scored on their first drive of the season. Sorry to all my DC collectors....but i AM a New Yorker, for sure. Did anyone see the concert last night? What did you think?

--Charles

We picked the winners in the Fazzino American Airlines Word Scramble contest today! Congratulations to our Grand Prize winner of airfare for two to London, Deborah Gula of Levittown, New York! And our two runners-up (winners of "The Lights of London") are Annie Manevitz of Westchester, New York and Donald Kitain of Commerce Twp, Michigan !

And we have decided to send the American Airlines poster to all of you who entered! You'll be hearing from my studio in the next few days! Congratulations to Everyone!

--Charles

It's Labor Day Weekend again!!! I can't believe how quickly this summer went by....Labor Day always makes me think of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. I've been a national VP of the MDA for ten years now and i've done some amazing projects with them, including working with some incredible children at MDA Summer Camp (see the pic below). This week is the annual Jerry Lewis Telethon. I grew up watching the telethon and I urge all of you to tune in at some point and do what you can to help. It starts on sunday morning at 9PM Eastern Time (6PM Pacific Time). Get more information at www.mdausa.org. or you can even bid on a few great items at their new online auction site.... www.mda.org/auctions/ Read more about the MDA on my Member's Home Page at http://www.fazzinocollectors.com/Members/Home.aspx

It was kind of a last minute thing....but the NFL decided to do another concert to kickoff the 2008 NFL season and they asked me to do the official pop art poster. Here it is! I'm proud to add it to my sports art print collection. I'll be doing some signings at the concert next Thursday. Usher and Keith Urban are performing and you can read more about it (and how you can attend the concert) on my News and Notes Page http://www.fazzino.com/news_and_notes.htm.

I originally blogged about these new plexiglass sculptures i was working on back in May. Unfortunately, i was just getting used to blogging and i accidentally deleted that one from the archive...so you can't go back and read it...sorry....I wrote about how i was working with my daughter Heather on one of her AP Art Class projects for school and came up with this cool new idea. I painted some original artwork, in different layers, on sheets of plexiglass and glued them together, leaving space in between. It was a total experiment but i absolutely LOVED the outcome. The problem i had was how to "frame" them so that they could stand alone as a sculpture and keep the dust out....and look...well..."finished." So, i think i've solved that problem....i've been working on these for months and i'm very proud of them. I don't know when they will be released to the galleries for sale but i think it will be soon. I'd love to know what you think about them. They are all original....hand-painted on plexiglass...with plexiglass frames individually built around them. Enjoy!

Last month, i received a note from alison about my New York Collection:

"Still waiting for Charles to turn out one of his 3D masterpieces of the old New York of somewhere in the nineteenth century. It would feature schooners, sailing ships, horse and buggies, horse cards, the lower East Sdie, Delmonico's, cops in the old NYCity uniforms of the 1800's, etc. There is certainly a place waiting in many homes of your collectors for such a creation."

Actually, Alison, I have done one piece like this but it was many years ago. It was called "Hester Street" and it was one of my earliest New York street scene paintings. Looking back on it, it reminds me of how my style and technique have evolved. My work used to look much more primitive than it does now. It might be time to revisit this theme in my newer, tighter, more vibrant style....i can see it...push carts....newsboys....maybe even in black and white and sepiatones. Hmmm....Alison, you've given me something to think about. Thanks.

-Charles

Now that the 2008 Pori Jazz Festival is over in Finland, they've started publicizing next year's festival. My mother was so excited to see the new Festival home page with my artwork on it. She's Finnish and can't wait to show all of her relatives. Take a look at www.porijazz.fi. It's really cool. I felt like a little kid again....like when I showed my first paintings with her at the outdoor art festival in Armonk, NY. She was so proud then too! :-)

--Charles

Every so often, I will invite someone else to contribute to my blog.  Today, you'll hear from Sharon Connelly from my publishing company.  She's been with me for 11 years...--Charles

Hello all - I am so glad that I have this opportunity to "blog" with all of you.  Being with Charles for 11 years I have seen many cool things.  To watch Charles come up with ideas for the different editions is so much fun.  He will come to work in the morning with a piece of paper or a napkin that he was drawing on the night before and it will turn out to be a new doctor piece or something to do with California.  Sometimes he will be up in his office all day, you walk in and he will hold up a board and say "what do you think of this?" and it will be a New York piece or something to do with Broadway.  It's amazing to watch his mind work and what he puts down on paper is just incredible! 

I think my favorite part of this whole job is going out with Charles to the shows and meeting all of you!  I have met so many great people in my tavels - it amazes me when some people say that they own 30 pieces and I so enjoy meeting people buying a Fazzino for the first time!  I love hearing the stories of why people buy a certain piece - whether it's because it's their favorite team, reminds them of where they grew up, where they fell in love, a city they have visited on vacation or just a gift for a special occasion - the stories are always fascinating.  I love that Charles' artwork makes people think about a special memory or special someone.  It's great when Charles draws on the back of people's artwork at shows.  People sometimes ask for the most obscure things and I think - how is Charles going to do this and he always figures it out.  It still fascinates me after all of these years.

Please tell us your favorite story about meeting Charles or about why you bought a particular piece.  We would love to hear from you!  Thanks for letting me share my experience with you!  I hope to "blog" with you again soon! 

--Sharon