Lucy the Water Dog!

This is my dog in front of this Lake Champlain Map. It may look real, but this is not a real dog, it's stuffed. When I was a child, I had a dog named Lucy who loved the water and went on all of our adventures to the Lakes and Rivers. I keep this stuffed dog, also named Lucy the water dog, in my studio to remember all the fun that we had. 

This beautiful map of Lake Champlain is for a customer in Vermont. This decor map is large, 6ft-4in x 3ft-2in. and is gallery wrapped. The map is from a watercolor painting and is printed on canvas with archival inks. After printing, I come back and hand paint areas of the map to high light them, such as the birds etc...

Interestingly, I hide things in the waters. Folks love to search the waters looking for the hidden items. They are tiny, but they certainly make this map a conversational piece. 

One of the neat things that make my maps special, is that you can tell what time of day it is on the map. As shown, If the shadow is on the west side of the birds, then the sun is rising. If the shadow is on the east side of the birds, then the sun is setting.

I use waterfowl that are common for the lake area, such as Canadian Geese, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle etc... These three Canadian Geese appear to float over the map.  I try to name important area's on the lake, especially the islands, points, rivers etc... I added this sail boat to the picture because I thought it would make an interesting photo. Check the colors out of the lake. 

This map is gallery wrapped and the sides are 1-1/2 inches thick. The map actually wraps around the sides of the frame. You will find no road names, county, or state lines on my maps. I have found that folks enjoy traveling the roads with their eyes, while trying to get their bearing. I call this the "Leo Lakes gaze."

If you would love a great map or you know someone who lovers a lake, river or bay, then a treasured map from Leo Maps would make a great gift. Have it custom or personalized! Check-out my website below and remember: "Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream." Paddle over to LeoLakes.com
  

Fishermen, what not to do in bed, never!

You can eat crackers in bed, but never do this!

I've never cleaned my tackle box out in bed, but I can certainly understand the trouble it might get you into. Hope you enjoyed my cartoon.

If you ever need a map of your favorite fishing hole, then check out my website LeoLakes.com. Frame your favorite lake, river, and bay.

Line up boys, it's all you can eat fish!

As you can see, Pop (my father-in-law) has an audience while cleaning fish. These birds act like they are waiting to enter a five star restaurant, called "Pop's Filet," right before it opens. Anyway, Pop has been fishing down in Florida on Lemon Bay. Lucky for him, he has missed the cold hard winter and has been enjoying the 70's while we suffered in the teens. 

What was the catch of the day, Sheep's head, six to be exact. Okay, they don't look like a sheep's head, but if you look at their teeth, then you would think they have sheep teeth. That's why they are called sheep's head. They are great tasting fish, however even with the size of these shown, the meat will only be the size of  two chicken strips after they are filleted.  
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Check-out that knife that's in Pop's hand. I'm not sure if he is ready to clean fish or have a knife fight with a Great Blue Heron over his catch. Here's the good news, next week I will be on Lemon Bay hopefully catching a few fish. Wish me luck and I will post a few pictures during the trip on the blog. Oh yeah, here's one of my vintage styled maps of Lemon Bay that I personalized and gave to Pop as a gift. That's him in the photos. See more of my maps at LeoMaps.com

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

A Terrible, Terrible Mistake!

My wife and I made a TERRIBLE mistake about a year ago and I generated this fishing disorder cartoon from that story.

You see, a year ago, my wife and I made a TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE MISTAKE. We were at Costco and we mistakenly purchased, on sale, 900 miles of SINGLE PLY toilet paper. We are so cheap we suffered through this awful error. I am now happy to say, we are officially out of toilet paper and have Charmin in the house. "We are back to happy crapping". You know, I was thinking, did I share too much information. Anyway, checkout my vintage style lake, river and bay decor maps at LeoLakes.com

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

Custom Maps

A lot of folks love the lake that they live on or near. In fact, some folks love their lake, river, or bay as much as a family pet. Here's a great little poem that my wife came up with that I use with some of my vintage style maps.  

I often do custom maps of lakes that are small and that only a few folks live on. One such lake is Glen Lake which is located in New York. I added the above poem around the perimeter for a nice touch.

Some customers frame their print in a barnwood style frame which works well with my vintage style maps. I normally have a few different types of frames in the studio. I show only one style on the website, but most of the time, I have barnwood and premium mahogany frames. Checkout my website if you are interested in a vintage style map of your favorite lake, river, and bay. If we don't have your lake, we can do a custom map of your treasured paradise. Also, I can do other maps for folks too, such as decor maps of land, farms, ranches and genealogy.  Tour my website:  Leolakes.com

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

Lake Lovers Decor

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. If you ever need a vintage style lake map, then checkout my website at LeoLakes.com

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

Lake Champlain Vintage Style Map

I just finished this vintage style map of beautiful Lake Champlain. I always do some research on a lake that I paint, and here's what I have discovered.  Lake Champlain is a natural lake located in Vermont and New York with a small portion in Canada. Interesting, did you know that Lake Champlain almost became the sixth great lake? Yep, but more about that later. The lake is a large lake being about 125 miles long and up to 23 miles wide. Lake Champlain is a very historic lake and was named after the French explorer who discovered it, Samuel De Champlain. In colonial times, battles were fought at Ticonderoga, Saratoga and a naval battle at Valcour Island led by Benedict Arnold.

In 1998, a bill signed by President Clinton gave Lake Champlain the title of the nation's sixth great lake, which allowed states to apply for educational and research money for the lake. There was such an uproar about the lake becoming the sixth great lake, the bill was rescinded after 18 days, but the educational and research money continued to flow.  The lake has about 80 islands. I love some of the island names such as, four brothers island. It makes me wonder why they came up with such a name?  There have been reports that a monster lives in the lake, not unlike the Loch Ness monster, but smaller. Vague descriptions indicate the monster is 5 to 10 feet long and is silver or gray.  Skeptic's suggest that it's only floating logs or large sturgeons schooling. 

Oh yeah, it's not a monster, but I do hide a tiny mermaid in all my maps for fun. Anyway, this lake does have many species of fish including huge pike, salmon, bowfin, trout, bass, walleye and large sturgeons. A great lake for the fisherman. If you like more information on a Lake Champlain vintage style map or other maps, checkout my website at LeoLakes.com. We also do custom maps and personalized maps.

Remember: " Get away from the big screen and get on a big stream, if not, then at least put on the wall." Frame your Favorite, Lake, River, or Bay, LeoLakes.com. 

Bait Me!

Here's one of my new cartoons, a carpy life. Hope you enjoy! 

Remember: If you can't get away from the big screen to a big stream, then put one on the wall! LeoMaps.com