Lake House Cartoons

I've just completed fourteen new cartoons. It's kind of funny, but from this time of year until after Christmas, I am at my most creative. It all goes back to the sixth grade in Mrs Smith's room. You see, Mrs Smith noticed that I was creative and artistic, but not an English/Grammar master (due to a dose of dyslectic). Anyway, I ended up doing all kinds of holiday art, from Halloween, Thanksgivings, Christmas, to New Years. So, when this time of year comes around, my creative juices start to flow like sap from a tree. Thank You Mrs Smith! You will start seeing the sap (creative juices) all over this blog in the coming weeks. Remember: Get away from the big screen and get on a big stream!

Get away from the big screen and get on a big stream! Check out my website if you need a really great gift for the lake lover!

Get away from the big screen and get on a big stream!

A few weeks ago, I went kayak fishing on Marrowbone Lake near Nashville, with my fishing buddy Buttermilk. Marrowbone Lake isn't a large lake at only 60 acres, but it is a beautiful lake. The lake is nestled in the hills of Tennessee with a few small coves and an abundance of hardwood trees framing the shore line. Autumn is a spectacle time for viewing fall foliage on this lake. If you were to fly over the lake, its shape would appear to be a gecko with head, legs and tail.    

Our goal was to catch bass, but this lake is not known for an abundance of bass. The lake is better known for catfish and carp, big carp, in fact it holds a state record for a certain species of carp. 

Here I am loaded in the kayak and taking a break. We had already fished about two hours and not one bite. The bass fishing proved too difficult.

When fishing is slow, I start taking wildlife photos. . This great blue heron flew   over and I scrambled to get my camera. It turned out a little blurry, but I captured the moment. 

Here's Buttermilk deciding what to do after figuring out that the bass were not biting.

We both decide that catching fish is more fun than not, so we changed bait to catch small bream. Unfortunately, after catching a few of these I lose interest and get bored. However, it's always better to be on a big stream, than in front of a big screen!

Later that day, I have the kayak pointed toward the dock. 

Check-out my vintage style lake, river and bay maps they will look great hanging in your home and makes a great gift. Paddle over to my website, LeoMaps.com 

Mom's run, River of Oz fishing, Long nose

Here's a few more of my cartoons. A few thoughts, I think little Johnny will be in big trouble with his mom. I've never fished the river oz, but if I do, a "Dorothy Bait" would be my choice. Lastly, if I ever come back as a dog, I come want a looooooong nose! Hope you enjoy!

Check out my vintage style lake, river and bay maps. Makes a great Christmas gift for the lake lover. All maps 16x32 size and above, come with a Certificate of Authenticity, and a sheet covering interesting facts about your LeoLakes Decor Map. 

To see if we have your lake, river, or bay, paddle over to my website LeoLakes.com. Enjoy

Old Field Studio Eight Year Anniversary

Back in October 2007, I started Old Field Studio. In the beginning, Old Field Studio was focused only on wildlife art. I painted in acrylics on Masonite Art Board. My art had a blurred background, which was done with an airbrush.

The foreground, which was mostly waterfowl, was painted very crisp. This effect gave the picture an almost 3-D look. In fact, a lot of folks thought my art was a photograph. The top of this blog has one of my images showing a great blue heron which was cropped from this picture below.

Folks enjoyed my wildlife art, but I discovered that the market was over saturated with wildlife art, even though I did okay with it. 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. I 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 eight years and I'm still in business. That's pretty much the story of Old Field Studio in a nutshell.

Check-out my website LeoLakes.com

Special Decor Maps!

I am 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.

Who invented the first paddle?

Wow, a true break through in water propulsion, "The First Paddle"! An interesting read, if I say so myself. Enjoy!

Paddle on over to my website, LeoLakes.com to find beautiful maps of your favorite lake, river or bay. Makes a great gift for the lake house, lake lover, or fisherman.

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

An article about Leo Lakes!

Pretty Cool !!! Check-out this article by Robert J. Wiebel, Orlando Outdoor Recreation Examiner, about my lake, river and bay maps, http://www.examiner.com/article/outdoor-artwork-for-all-occasions

If you are interested in a beautiful map of your favorite waterscape, check out my website, LeoLakes.com. Makes a great gift for the lake house, lake lover, or fisherman.

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

A beautiful lake goes bad!

Two years ago, My fishing buddy and I, kayak fished Greenbrier Lake, a small lake near my home near Nashville TN. As you can see from the photo's, it was a beautiful lake with water lilies along the edge.

The water lilies seemed to add to the beauty and fishing fun because you could just imagine a big bass waiting to blast out of the water, except we only caught small perch. 

There was some milfoil, but not too much. Wow, you won't believe what happened in a two year period. We made a return visit to this lake just a few weeks ago and was shocked to find that the lake was completely unfishable, if that's a word.

Check-it out! Who needs a kayak when you can almost walk across the lake. It's obvious that there's too much nutrient rich run off from the surrounding area. When I walked up to the lakes edge, I smelled a septic odor. No doubt, there's a lot of biological activity going on here and it's not fish.

We didn't even remove our kayaks from our vehicles. Who would fish in these waters? It's amazing how fast a fairly large body of water can fill up with algae. Two years ago, there were a family of beavers, a great blue heron and many ducks.

Today, we didn't see very much wildlife, except for these ducks. It looked like one of the ducks had to play Coast Guard Cutter to make a path through the muck! 

I hope this lake makes a comeback because it was such a beautiful lake! However, the little research that I've done on a milfoil problem this large indicates that it will require help and likely take a long time to recover. What a shame.  

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