Good Memories

This great blue heron is probably thinking,"Maybe I should try artificial bait."  I painted this back in 2007 and use it for the topper image on this blog. 

The original painting has long been sold to a contractor in Alabama to hang in his office. What do you think drew him to this picture? He said "it was the lure. When I was younger, I had a lure just like the one in the painting. I caught many fish with that lure. After seeing it in the painting, good memories flooded back."

I too had a lure like this one when I was a kid, in fact I used it as the model for the painting. I remember catching  lots of fish on the Duck River with it. I guess you could say that I paint good memories.

Oh yeah, what do you think I called this painting? I named it "Blue Monday Heron" because if you look closely, you can tell the heron is not having a good day fishing on a cold, windy Monday.

Lake Music

What is lake music? Well, there is a lake near Music City (Nashville) that has a long history of lake music. There must be music in the waters because many, many country music stars and song writers live on or near the lake. Stars like Johnny Cash lived on the lake, Taylor Swift lived near the lake while going to high school and this is just to name a few.  The lake didn't create the stars, but it certainly seems to have helped. It must be those foggy mornings with a blue heron flying over and the sun just rising over the water that is a catalyst for great songs and music.  I just finished this beautiful art decor map of Old Hickory Lake the “Music Lake”. The lake is actually named after

Andrew Jackson “Old Hickory” the 7^th president of the United States, but could have just as well been called the music lake. In fact, I hide a musical note in the waters to emphasis the lake’s music heritage. The lake is printed on canvas from a watercolor painting and the waterfowl is hand painted.

"Reduce screen time and increase stream time. Get on a big stream, or at least put one on your wall."

What Deer Antler Extract does to you.

I do alot of outdoorsy cartoons because I have fun with them. Here's a few that I have added to the site. I had to play off  the recent Deer Antler Extract rage in sports. Also, a little about Labradors. Enjoy!

Remember: "Reduce your screen time and increase your stream time. Get on a big stream."

Lake Winnipesaukee fly over, sort of?

Just completed this 6'-4" x 3'-2" treasured map of Lake Winnipesaukee. The map is large enough for me to place the camera near the canvas and take close-up shots.

Coming in for a land! It almost looks like you are really flying over a lake minus the island names! 

 

 Lake Winnipesaukee is a beautiful lake with many islands.

 All my lakes have the signature ruby meridian, waterfowl, and hidden things in the water.

Here's a great blue heron flying over the lake. I hand paint (touch up) the waterfowl on all canvas prints. 

 If you look closely, you may see a mermaid in the water or even a big trout. See more lakes, rivers and bay maps at www.LeoLakes.com

I hide a tiny mermaid/fish in the waters of all my lake map paintings that folks love to search for. 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 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. If you would like to see more and read about my treasured maps go to LeoMaps.com.

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

Little Waders

I did this cartoon a while back and I thought it was funny so I brought it back. Enjoy!

 

I couldn't resist doing this cartoon of these waders hanging on the wall and little Johnny's artwork all over his dad's fish suit, as little Johnny calls them. Looks like that's a permanent marker in Johnny's hand. Hmm, wonder what daddy's reaction will be?

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

An uproar in the ten acre woods!

Yesterday there was a huge disturbance in the ten acre woods. Lots of rustling, scurrying, and barking by the neighbors, the squirrels. What was causing all of this uproar? I'm not sure, but just before I ran into the house to get the camera, silence came over the ten acre woods. You could hear an acorn drop. Hmmm... what's going on? After retrieving my camera, I scanned the trees to see if I might see what was causing the ruckus.  

Finally, buried behind a lot of twigs and branches, I discovered a hawk. No double about it, this hawk is looking for a meal with the main course being a bushy tail. Looking through the camera it was hard to determine the hawk's species.

After transferring the photos to my laptop, I was able to identify the hawk. It was a Red Shouldered Hawk, which is common in this area.

Normally, we have an abundance of squirrels, but on occasion they all disappear, thanks to the Great Horned Owl, Red Tail Hawk and Red Shouldered Hawk.  

What's in your woods?

A government study reveals "what deer see when they look into headlights."

Scientist, hunters, automobile drivers and just about everybody has wondered what do deer see when they are "deer in the headlights." Well finally, the results are in for this 32.4 million dollar government study to determine what deer really see when they are "Deer in the headlights."

A government spokesman stated that we know what we see when we see deer in the headlights, but what do the deer see? This has been a perplexing question every since the invention of the headlight. The study was over a five year period and took place in many parts of the country. It took several universities, and a team of scientist, technicians and professional photographers to gather all the results. The most sophisticated cameras were used to film the actual events. The best way to explain the results is to just look at the official photos.
 

Exhibit 1- Deer in head lights

Exhibit 2- What the deer see.

The study finally pays off. This is what deer see. Totally amazing!

Ok, I may have let my imagination go a little too wild, but it is humorous, yes? I hope you enjoyed. Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream, or at least put one on the wall. 
Checkout my lake decor maps at www.LeoLakes.com Great for the Lake Lover!

Lewis Smith Lake Decor Map

I Just completed this treasured map of Lewis Smith Lake in Alabama. It's a large 2 feet x 4 feet and printed on  canvas.  

My goal is for the map to almost glow. 

I hide things in the waters of the river, lake or bay.

On canvas prints, I come back and hand paint the waterfowl to make them pop and to appear as if they float over the map. I just noticed in this photo that if you look closely you may find something swimming in the water.

 I  hide a tiny mermaid/fish in the waters of all my lake map paintings that folks love to search for. 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 house owner, lake lover, or fisherman. I have over two hundred maps 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: LeoLakes.com.

Remember: Get away from the big screen and get on a big stream, if not, put one on the wall."