Monday, October 24, 2016

My 10 minutes of fame, sort of....

I'm finally getting my 10 minutes of fame, sort of. Interestingly, I got a call from, now get this.......a major studio in California. They are filming a new tv series for mid-season. They want to use one of my big lake maps as a prop in the tv series. It won't come out for a few months, but I'm hoping that it will be prominently displayed in the series. I will have more news about this later...... 
Right now, I'm working hard making beautiful maps for folks to give as Christmas presents.....it doesn't get any better than that!

My maps make a great Christmas gift for the lake house, check-out these other comments from our customers. Oh yeah, you can star your beach house location and don't forget to look for the hidden mermaid in the waters of your favorite waters!

The map arrived right on time and it was a sensational hit.  Thanks so much, this was exactly what I was looking for and was even better than anticipated. Nate
I just received the map, it looks beautiful! Thank you for helping me put together such a spectacular gift and I will definitely keep you in mind for future gift ideas. Have a wonderful Sunday!

Arrived safe and sound this afternoon and looks great!  I can't wait to give it to my parents for xmas for their new lake house.  Thank you!


Go to www.Leolakes.com to see if we have your map. We have many popular lake maps such as the Lake Winnipesaukee map, Great Sacandaga Lake map, Lewis Smith Lake map, Pickwick Lake map, Greer's Ferry Lake map, Lake Sidney Lanier map, Lake Sinclair map, Table Rock Lake map, and Lake Wallenpaupack map. Also, we paint custom maps and have personalized maps for that special someone. 


Thursday, October 20, 2016

Fishing in a Cemetery.... Sort of?

Have you ever fished in a cemetery, thought not? Well, I have, sort of. It all started last weekend when my wife and I traveled to Huntsville Alabama for a little family history genealogy. We ended up in a very large cemetery searching for my great-grandmother's grave site. Luckily, the cemetery provided a map which showed which section the grave was located. Me knowing maps, I thought finding this grave will be a piece of cake, wrong! After going back and forth over the entire cemetery, I realized that I was struggling to find the grave. I stopped to get my bearing and noticed a rainbow trout..... on a headstone. It was almost as if I was fishing. I just had to walk over and investigate. Here is what I discovered:  

The inscription on the headstone was very interesting. My first thought after reading this --now that's a true fisherman! Apparently, this guy must have had some great fishing trips and caught some beautiful fish. I bet that this guy would have had some interesting story's and would have been a joy to talk too. I hope that he was judged to be big enough to keep! 

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. Also, you can personalize your lake map with a star where your lake house is located.  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. Order soon to avoid the rush!
As you can see, my maps make a great gift.  Orders pick-up during the holiday's, so order soon. Click here www.LeoLakes.com for more information.



"Hanging a Leo Lakes Treasured Map in a lake house, is like christening a boat with a bottle of champagne!" 



Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Leo Lakes Born Nine Years Ago!!


Wow, not many businesses last nine years, but I have. October 2007, I started Old Field Studio. In the beginning, Old Field Studio was focused only on wildlife art, mostly waterfowl. I painted in acrylics on Masonite Art Board. My art had a blurred background, which was done with an airbrush. This gave the picture a 3-D look.

Folks enjoyed my wildlife art, but I discovered that the market was over saturated with wildlife art. During this time, I wanted a decor map of a river that I grew up on as a kid. After some research, I found that nice decor maps of waterways didn’t exist. There were navigation, road, and topography maps, but not a really nice, vintage style lake, river or bay map that would look great hanging in a home or office. 


Luckily, with my artistic talent and creativity, I decided to paint my own map of that treasured river. experimented with different colors and styles to finally settle on a vintage style that gave the painting a golden look. I added a few symbols such as the ruby meridian, wildlife and vintage plane.  


Once completed, I found that others liked the map so much that they asked for copies. This gave me the idea to paint additional rivers, lakes and bays for others to treasure their favorite waters. After a year and a half of experimenting, Leo Lakes Treasured Maps was born, which is part of Old Field Studio. It's hard to believe that its been nine years and I'm still in business. That's pretty much the story of Old Field Studio in a nutshell.

I try to make the 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. Check-out my website LeoLakes.com. The best Christmas Gift for the Lake House.





Monday, October 3, 2016

My Last Bobber.......

Wow, I have put way too much work into "Bobber Babes", but I did blow-off some built-up creativity, which I have to do at times or I go crazy! Finally, the last post for Bobber Babes. Enjoy!






The End! Checkout my vintage style lake, river and bay decor maps. I call my maps treasured maps because most folks have that special body of water that they treasure. These maps make great gifts for the 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. If you would like to see more and read about my treasured maps go to LeoMaps.com.