Collage of Lake Maps

  I've been working on a collage of maps for a customer. These are all 10"x20" in black frames. It will be a special gift for someone who has been involed at each one of these lake. 

I actually think that they look pretty good. I've been doing lake, river and bay maps for over ten years. Over the years, I have experimented with different elements of map art in order to provide the best and most unique map on the market. Folks will be drawn to the map like a crackling fire on a cold winter night.  I try very hard to make my maps special by adding interest to the maps, like a tiny hidden mermaid. LeoLakes.com

Also, each framed map or map over 16x32, comes with a certificate of authenticity, lake poem, and interesting facts abut the map. 

I have hundreds of maps on my website that can be purchased right from the site, or I can do custom and personalized vintage style lake maps, too. Lake maps will add beauty to your Lake House or office Find out more interesting facts about my treasured maps by going to LeoLakes.com. 

A California Lake Map

Just completed this map of Camanche Lake for a customer in California. This is a beautiful lake that is located in San Joaquin Valley. The lake is know for Bass and trout fishing. Interestingly, Camanche Lake is located in what is known as a Mediterranean Climate. The annual rain fall is relatively low, summers are relatively hot with low humidity and winters are mild.

Before I add waterfowl to the map, I research to determine what waterfowl lives on or near the lake. Camanche Lake has canadian geese, bald eagles, and great blue herons that frequent the area. The area has been in a drought, but water levels in the lake have been increasing during the 2015 and 2016 winter months. "Get away from the big screen and get on a big stream, Camanche Lake"

Vintage Style Lake Maps: LeoLakes.com

Lake House Maps

I just shipped this 2ft X 4ft map of Old Hickory Lake for a customers lake house. Here's a recent comment from one of my customers!

"Hi Larry, Just wanted you to know we gave him the map for Father's Day and it was a HUGE hit! He is an avid OHL fisherman and he loved this gift! Thanks for the quick turnaround time. From the time I placed the order it arrived on my porch within a few days. Thanks so much!"

The map turned out very nice with the golden color. I try to make my maps as much "a piece of art" as they are a map. In fact, my large maps (16x32 and over) are numbered and come with a Certificate of Authenticity, which also includes a letter that details some other neat things about the map, such as the tiny hidden mermaid. Interestingly, I have sold over one thousand maps ranging in size from 10in x 20in  to 4ft x 8ft. Believe it or not, I have kept the purchase information (Who, When, Map, etc..) for all those purchases. 

Anyway, I do have one wish and I think that it will come true some day, and that is, to stubble upon one of my maps hanging in a restaurant, business or home. 

I call my maps treasured maps because most folks have that special body of water that they treasure. These decor maps make great gifts for the lake house owner, lake lover, or fisherman. I have over two hundred on my website that can be purchased right from the site, or I can do custom and personalizes lake, river or bay vintage style maps, too. If you would like to see more and read about my treasured maps go to LeoLakes.com. 
 

"Life is short, reduce screen time and increase stream time, get on a big stream."

Father's Day Lake Lover Gift

I just completed this 20x40, custom map of Lake Washington located in Minnesota. It's a beautiful lake with lots of wildlife.

Not only are walleyes common, but large and small mouth bass, crappie, blue gill, and northern pike are too. You will find much wildlife/waterfowl around the lake such as eagles, osprey, cranes, otter, beaver and my favorite, loons. In fact, I added a couple of loons on the map along with fish, and Canadian Geese. Interesting, I always hide a tiny mermaid to the waters of all my lake map paintings that folks love to search for. 

Also, you can add a star to your favorite spot. If you would like to see more and read about my treasured maps go to LeoLakes.com.  We have Lake decor maps, and vintage style maps, that make great gifts for the lake house.

Remember: Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream.

LeoLakes Treasured Maps is now doing the Kayak Bass Fishing awards for the KBF Tournament Champions! KBF has tournaments on many lakes such as Santee Cooper, Kentucky Lake, Toledo Bend etc... Check-out their website at kayakbassfishing.com to learn more. 

Remember! Life is short, getaway from the big screen and get on a big stream!

Paddle on over to my website to see more beautiful maps of your favorite Lake, River or Bay. Makes a great gift for the lake house owner, lake lover, or fisherman.

The Leo Lakes Story

If you would like to know more about Leo Lakes, then check-out this story about Leo Lakes (Old Field Studio) from the Orlando Examiner. 

http://www.examiner.com/article/outdoor-artwork-for-all-occasions

Big Bear Lake Decor Map

Here's another nice email from one of my customers. Big Bear Lake is a beautiful lake located in California. 

"Hello Larry! We received the print yesterday as promised!!  It is fantastic!!  Quality is beautiful and my daughters had a blast trying to find the mermaid!  They wanted more things to find so you left them wanting more!  :)  Can't wait to give it to my parents this weekend, I know they will love it as much as I do!!  You've been an incredible, helpful, responsive seller and I've enjoyed doing business with you!  Such a pleasure to have a totally positive buying experience on line.  Take care and have a great weekend! "

The Big Bear Lake map is painted in vintage style. I add waterfowl common to the lake flying over to give the map interest. As mentioned above, I add a tiny little mermaid for folks to search for.

This close up section gives you an idea of the detail that I include. I have many folks who purchase my maps for birthday, fathers day, Christmas, lake house warming, and wedding gifts.

All maps 16x32 size and above, come with a Certificate of Authenticity, a poem, and a sheet covering interesting facts about your LeoLakes Decor Map. 

To see if we have your lake, river, or bay, check-out my website LeoLakes.com. Enjoy

Bad cat in the studio!

It's unbelievable what's happened in the Old Field Studio, recently. It all started when I was working on a lake map. I was about to print the map when I noticed scratches on the flat screen monitor. I thought, I have never noticed these before, wait a minute; there are multiple scratches across the screen. Where did these come from?

A closer inspection indicates that they are fairly deep and appear to be claw marks. I had only two questions: how did they get there and who was responsible. If you look closely below, you can see them.

I immediately had a suspect in mind, "Stormy" our rescue cat. The big mystery was why would Stormy just arbitrarily scratch my computer screen? Well, the answer to that question is very simple, take a look at my screen saver.

Here's what I think happened. My computer will go into sleep mode when it's not being used, but will wake-up and the screener saver will come on if the mouse is moved. Old Stormy likes to roam around the studio alone and hunt for whatever. Stormy must have played with the computer mouse and the screen saver came on with the three owls. Stormy, thinking he had hit the owl jackpot took a few swipes at the owls. Boom, that's how I got scratches on my computer screen. Oh yeah, Stormy has been banned from the studio!

Here you can see a picture of Old Stormy on his cat perch "none too happy!" Folks the moral of the story is to keep your cat away from your mouse. Yes, that is one of my decor maps. I was going to put this picture on my the LeoLakes web site, but may not due to Stormy being in the picture. Oh well, Check'm out at www.LeoLakes.com they make a great gift.

"Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream!"

What stirs on Christmas night, motion camera?

A couple of years ago, I set out to determine what happens in my backyard on Christmas night, would I see reindeer, eves or maybe Santa? The goal was to use my infrared, motion detector, camera and capture a picture of what may be stirring on a cold Christmas night.

11:50 pm - The first picture that critter cam caught was of our cat, Creamy. All looks normal on Christmas night.  (Picture number 52 and temperature of 31)

3:17 am - Then a picture was taken, but I don’t see anything that would have set off the motion detector. Hmm, this seems odd. (Picture number 53 and temperature of 31)

7:14 am – Again our cat is caught walking past the camera. Well, it appears that I was unsuccessful with pictures of just our cat. The more I think about it, the camera should have been on the roof because this is where the reindeer should have been working. However, I have determined that the camera didn't capture any creatures between the hours of 11:50pm and 7:14am, approximately 7-1/2 hours. So, it appears that critters do not stir on Christmas night. Feeling sad that I didn't get a picture of a reindeer, I went outside to see if I could find out what had set the camera off at 3:17 am.

To my surprise, I saw a round object in the snow. 

After a closer inspection, it was a red bell. Wow, could this bell have come off Santa’s sleigh when he was leaving our house?  I believe at 3:17 am, Santa left our home and this red bell fell off his sleigh. The bell must have fallen near the camera and it triggered the motion detector. Wow, I can’t believe it, Santa's sleigh bell. Should I mail the bell back to the North Pole? 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Visit my website to see more. I have over two hundred lake, river and bay maps on my website that can be purchased right from the site, or I can do custom and personalized lake, river or bay maps, too. If you would like to see more and read about my treasured maps go to LeoMaps.com. 

As you can see, my maps make a great gift. To see more of my work, click here www.LeoLakes.com. 

Remember, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream!

Great Blue Heron Painting

On the header of this blog, I feature a Great Blue Heron. Below is the painting that the Heron came from, which I was painted back in 2007.  I've always enjoyed watching the Great Blue Heron and it is one of my favorite birds. As you can see, there's more to this painting than what's shown on top.

What's the story behind the painting? First, I called the painting "Blue Monday Heron" to reflect the mood in the painting. Can you feel the mood... windy, storms on the way, and a fisherman lost his lucky lure? The old Heron is hunkered down and doesn't look none too happy with his feathers being blown around.  

The lure was lost by some fisherman who was casting for that trophy. Actually, that lure was my lucky lure as a  child. I dug it out of an old tackle box and used it as a prop for this painting. The painting was painted 7 years ago and the original has been sold, but it is still one of my favorite painting.  

Here's a picture of the lure, it certainly has seen better days. I don't fish with it anymore, but I might get another painting out of it. I have a 20"x24" canvas print of this painting hanging in my studio. It interesting how a favorite painting seems to warm a room with fond memories.

If you like my painting, then you may want to visit my website. I have over two hundred lake, river and bay maps on my website that can be purchased right from the site, or I can do custom and personalized lake, river or bay maps, too. If you would like to see more and read about my treasured maps go to LeoMaps.com. 

As you can see, my maps make a great gift. To see more of my work click here www.LeoLakes.com. 

Remember: Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream, or at least enjoy one on your wall.

Greers Ferry Lake Map

I get a lot of enjoyment out of doing maps. Probably because I have the artistic and technical ability, along with the love for the lake, river and bay life style. Here's a map that I enjoyed doing, Greers Ferry Lake, located in Arkansas. This is a very popular and beloved lake. I'm not sure what makes this lake so loved, but you can feel it from the folks who order maps of Greers Ferry. In fact, I keep a list of what is the most popular and beloved lakes from the information that I gather. I would put Greers Ferry in the top five most beloved and popular lakes in the U.S. 

I just finished this 2ft x 4ft decor map of Greers Ferry. I've been doing lake, river and bay maps for over four years now and have complied a lot of information. I think that in a future blog, I might write about the "top ten most popular and beloved lakes in U.S."  

I've been doing lake, river and bay maps for over four years now and have complied a lot of information. I think that in a future blog, I might write about the "top ten most popular and beloved lakes in U.S."  

My maps make great gifts for the lake house owner, lake lover, or fisherman. I have over two hundred on my website that can be purchased right from the site, or I can do custom and personalizes lake, river or bay maps, too. Oh yeah, I hide a tiny mermaid in the waters of all my maps that folks love to search for. Find out more interesting facts about my treasured maps by going to LeoLakes.com. 

Remember: Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream!

Vintage Style Maps

Not long ago, I came across this cool looking vintage style outboard motor lamp. I could not resist it, so I purchased it and placed it in my studio. The motor appears to be styled after the old 1960s Evinrude Outboard Motors. Along with the lamp, I added one of my vintage style maps of Old Hickory Lake with a small sail boat. I think it makes for a nice looking decor piece. 

Actually, I have two old outboard motors that my dad owned, one is a Wizard and the other is an Evinrude much like the motor above. I have been working on how to incorporate them into the studio. Hopefully in the future, I will have completed this project and have pictures. A beautiful vintage style lake or bay map will look great in your lake house or give as a gift, checkout my website at LeoLakes.com

Remember, life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream!

Studio News

Here's a little personal news that I'm proud of. My daughter Sarah, is the Valedictorian for her High School. This is proof that kids can still grow up in the woods and be first in their class. She has worked very hard and reached her goal. I'm not sure where she will be going to college, but she will likely study the sciences. 

Congratulations Sarah! 

What's in your river, lake, bay or woods? Get out and find out!

I found my calling!

A few years ago, I got to follow my dream, a dream of having my own studio and creating the art that I love. After some wandering around on exactly what I wanted to produce, then putting all my creative and artistic ability in to it, I can now say that I have found it, "producing creative decor maps of places that folks love." I think this email below, from one of my customers pretty much sums it up, I have found my calling!" 

I received my custom, Hammock Lake decor map yesterday and was like a kid opening it on Christmas Day.  I could not wait to see it, and it definitely did not disappoint! It it stunning!!  Thank you so much for working with me to create this amazing focal point of my home. Your work is gorgeous and is just what I had been looking for!! I absolutely love the barn wood frame!! Thank you also for your promptness on answering your emails and for the super quick delivery.  Your business is more than 5 star and is so much appreciated!!! Thank you again and have a GREAT 2014!!

Have a very Happy New Year and remember "Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream."

Flying in for a landing, LeoLakes Maps

I add waterfowl to most of my decor maps. Normally, I place three Canadian geese somewhere cruising to the water, low and preparing to land.
My objective is to have them almost seem to float over the terrain. I also add a Great Blue Heron, Geese, Osprey, Sea Gulls, Pelicans etc... depending on the location of the body of water.

On canvas maps, after printing, I actually (touch-up) hand paint the waterfowl to make them pop and give the map an original painting effect. These details help sets Leo Lakes maps apart from others and give that personal touch. My ultimate goal is to provide a decor map that will become a treasured map. Remember: Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream, or at least put one on the wall!



Click Here to see more decor maps.

Lake Charlevoix Vintage style Map

What is the third largest lake in Michigan? Lake Charlevoix, a beautiful clear blue lake located on the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan near Charlevoix and Boyne City. The lake is over 17,000 acres and has 56 miles of shoreline, which much of it is lined with some of the most gorgeous, multi-million dollar homes around. Lake Charlevoix is often listed as one of America’s best lake. The lake is ideal for relaxation with great sunsets, sandy beaches, and wonderful restaurants. There are several great towns to explore or you could kayak, canoe, fish or take a sailboat cruise. Did you know that Ernest Hemingway was married on Lake Charlevoix? Interestingly, you may see a small kayak or the largest luxury yacht cruising the blue waters. I can understand why Lake Charlevoix is one of America’s best lakes, the folks living on or near this lake are truly blessed.

Here’s a vintage style map that I just completed of Lake Charlevoix. I added a small loon to waters and hide a tiny mermaid somewhere near the shore. Also, you can add a small star to the location on your Lake House or special area, even add a few words like… Johnson's Lake house, Est. 2001 or be creative with the title. See a better view and learn more about the lake at my website www.LeoLakes.com

Remember: Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream!

Mr. Wiggles

Occassionally, I doodle about all things water and here's one of my masterpiece. This cartoon is about life vest. You see, my wife purchased an auto inflate life vest for me on our anniverserary date. So... I dreamed up this cartoon. 

 

Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream, or at least put one on the wall!

 

Decor map of Shuswap Lake

Here's a lake that you have probably never have heard of, Shuswap Lake. I Just finished a custom canvas lake map of Shuswap Lake located in British Columbia, Canada. This is my first international map that I have painted.

Here's a photo of the lake that a customer sent me after receiving her map.
This lake is located near Salmon Arm, B.C. and is a large lake. 

It's unlikely that I will ever see this lake in person, but from what I have read it's a beautiful lake with many recreational activities, including some great fishing. 

Here's the feedback that I received:

 "Just received my Leo Lakes map. It is absolutely beautiful. I cannot wait to give it to may parents for them to keep in their simple little lake house that brings them such joy!! Thank you so much!! Highly recommended:)"

Paddle over to my website, LeoLakes.com. I paint beautiful lake, river and bay decor maps. Folks are discovering that these decor maps are wonderfully unique gifts that become family heirlooms. Oh yeah, I hide things in the lake waters, such as a tiny mermaid/fish. Folks love to search for them. I call my maps, treasured maps because most folks have that special body of water that they treasure. My treasured maps make a great Christmas gifts for the fisherman, lake lover, or Lake house. 

As you can see, my maps make a great gift.  Orders are picking up during the holiday's, so order soon. Click here www.LeoLakes.com for more information.

Just remember: "Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream".