Lunch near the waters edge?

It's a nice day to have lunch near the waters edge. This water snake was munching on a 2-3 pound bass on the Elk River. I believe the snake is a northern water snake, non-venous. I've seen them many times. Most folks mistakenly identify them as a copperhead. 

When I was a child, my father and I would float down the Duck River fishing from a flat bottom aluminum boat that he purchased from Sears department store. As we floated along, he would keep his eye open for a water snake coiled around a low hanging branch above the waters edge. If he spotted one, he would slowly paddle over without me knowing what was about to happen. When we were near, he would carefully raise his paddle and tap the branch. I was always oblivious to what was about to happen, until the snake came crashing down near were I was sitting, in a huge splash. It would scare the crap out of me, but my dad would laugh and laugh and laugh!

This is one of those treasured memories of the beloved river that I grew up on. I decided to paint a map of this river in a vintage style and it turned out so well, I ended up creating Leo Lake Treasured Maps. Paddle over to my website, LeoLakes.com, no snakes allowed.  Folks are discovering that my vintage style 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 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.

Big Vintage Style Lake Maps

Add beauty to your lake house! A nice big map of the lake that you live on. Have a large wall, hang a large map! 

Anyway, check-out my vintage style lake maps, makes a great gift. Click here, Leolakes.com to see if we have your map. We have many popular lake maps such as the Lake Winnipesaukee, Great Sacandaga Lake, Lewis Smith Lake, Pickwick Lake, Greer's Ferry Lake, Lake Sidney Lanier, Lake Sinclair, Table Rock Lake, and Lake Wallenpaupack for the lake house.  Also, we paint custom maps and have personalized maps for that special someone. 

Vintage Style Lake Maps

Here's a beautiful vintage style lake map that I painted of Lake Seminole in Georgia. The map turned out very nice with the golden color. 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. So, if my maps ever become a must have item and end up on the "Antique Road Show", I will have the maps parent so to speak. If this dream does come true, I'm sure I won't be around.  

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 LeoMaps.com. 
 

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

Looking back

I went back to see when I started blogging. It's amazing that my first blog entry was January 7th, 2008, over eight years ago. The subject was about starting a website where folks could purchase my paintings online. The site started out being dedicated to my waterfowl painting. My lake maps were not even conceived, however 5-6 years ago I started painting lake, river and bay maps. It is interesting how things change over time and how flexible one needs to be to discover new success.

First Blog Entry: January 7th,2008
Finally, I have almost completed my web site. I have a few more items to add. The site was not as difficult to build as I thought, however I have had no experience with web building. I did 100% of the work. After about 1 week of playing around with the web program, "Expressions Web", I had the site up and running. Painting has been very limited due to the time spent on the web site. I have other paintings that I have completed and will add to the site. Currently, I am working on a Great Blue Heron fishing in a lake with cattails. The painting is almost 90% finished. Well, got to run. http://www.oldfieldstudio.com/

Check-out my maps at www.Leolakes.com. We have many popular lake maps such as the Lake Winnipesaukee, Great Sacandaga Lake, Lewis Smith Lake, Pickwick Lake, Greer's Ferry Lake, Lake Sidney Lanier, Lake Sinclair, Table Rock Lake, and Lake Wallenpaupack. Also, we paint custom maps and have personalized maps for that special someone.