Monday, September 21, 2015

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





Wednesday, September 16, 2015

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. 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

Thursday, September 10, 2015

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.


Tuesday, September 8, 2015

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

Thursday, September 3, 2015

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


Monday, August 31, 2015

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!


Saturday, August 15, 2015

How to improve your bait presentation!

Want to catch gigantic fish? Three words, Bait Training School! 







I hope you enjoyed the cartoons, check-out my vintage style maps of your favorite lake, river, or bay!

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

5 More Lakes to Visit this Summer

As summer draws to a close, here are five lakes to visit to cap off your summer. With recreational activities such as golfing and fishing, these lakes have plenty to offer. Also, we've included pictures of vintage style lake maps that are available at Leolakes.com


Greers Ferry Lake
Greers Ferry Lake is located in Northern Arkansas in the Ozark Mountain foothills. With its sparkling, clear water, Greers Ferry is rated as one of the most pristine lakes in the nation. There are eight marinas around the lake that supply rentals of ski boats, house boats, and more and with the fish supply supplemented by the Arkansas Game and Fishing Commission, Greers Ferry is a great place for anglers. There is an island within the lake called Sugar Loaf Mountain with a summit that is five hundred feet above the lake; a trail on the island offers beautiful mountain views of the lake. With shopping in communities close by, a trail to hike on, and great fishing, Greers Ferry offers activities for everyone. 

Sources: http://www.arkansas.com/outdoors/water-activities/lakes-rivers/lake.aspx?id=7


Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is located within both Nevada and California in between Reno and Sacramento. With accolades such as being rated America’s Best Lake by USA Today and number one ski and travel destination by various sources, Lake Tahoe is clearly popular. Lake Tahoe offers classic lake activities such as boating and fishing but it also has unique offerings such as casinos and concerts. With free concerts almost every night and casinos on the Nevada side of the lake, Lake Tahoe has something for everyone. If you have the good fortune of visiting Lake Tahoe in the winter, you can participate in activities such as skiing and snowboarding. 

Sources: http://www.gotahoenorth.com/things/downhill-skiing-and-snowboarding/
http://www.visitinglaketahoe.com/


Mille Lacs
Mille Lacs is a lake located in Minnesota. During the summer, this area is warm and sunny; with a variety of fish such as northern pike, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, black crappie, and tullibee, Mille Lacs is Minnesota’s most popular lake for fishing. The Mille Lac Soo Line Trail is perfect for runners and bikers with its 11 miles of train tracks converted to paved and gravel trail. If you are looking for an off-road adventure, the area around Mille Lacs has more than 300 miles of ATV trails. Mille Lacs is the ideal lake to visit if you are an active person looking for an adventure!
Fun Fact: Mille Lacs is French for “one thousand lakes.”

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mille_Lacs_Lake
http://millelacs.com/activities/family-summer-vacations/


Pickwick Lake
Pickwick Lake is located within Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Pickwick has some exceptional fishing areas that have record size smallmouth bass and catfish; warm water dispelled from the power plant attracts fish during the cold weather in some areas. Pickwick Landing State Park offers areas for camping and three public beaches; some of the biggest fishing tournaments are held at the park. The park also contains two trails that are about two miles long and for golf lovers, the park has a golf course that hosts the St. Jude Charity Golf Tournament each year. Pickwick Lake is also home to the Yellow Creek waterfall which even has a rope swing for visitors to jump off the falls. 

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickwick_Lake
http://tnstateparks.com/parks/about/pickwick-landing


Lake Gaston
Lake Gaston is located in between the North Carolina and Virginia border; the area surrounding the lake is home to more than 150,000 people. Lake Gaston is a popular vacation spot because of its proximity to two major interstates and several colleges. In addition to the ease of travel to Lake Gaston, Lake Gaston is a good vacation spot because of the prevalence of activities such as fishing, golf, and boating. Lake Gaston has a large population of largemouth basses and striped bass are added to the lake making it a fantastic lake for anglers (however, serious fisherman may want to visit the lake during February and March when catches are usually at their peak). 

Sources: http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/
http://www.virginia.org/Listings/OutdoorsAndSports/LakeGaston/
http://www.lakegastonguide.com/

Hope you enjoyed the article and if you want to know more about the maps, visit Leolakes.com
Have a great end of the summer!