About Us

Here I am, nine years old with my Zebco 202 fishing pole in hand, the line stretchered across the Duck River, precariously wrapped over a Sycamore limb with the bait just reaching into the water. Then, all of a sudden, bang. A large fish hits the bait. My Dad yelled out “set the hook, son”! As I pulled back with all my nine year old might, the line snapped at the sycamore limb. The fish pulled down on the limb as the line unwrapped and fell into the waters of the Duck. This is a treasured memory of the waters that I learned to fish, swim, and paddle.

A few years ago, Leo wanted a decor map of that treasured  river.  After some research Leo found that nice decor maps of these 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, Leo has a good dose of artistic talent and creativity. In fact, Leo has won many awards based on his drawing ability in elementary school, and high school, which led him to pursue engineering. Leo has received a BS and MBA and worked many years in engineering. A little known fact, while in college, Leo actually completed a visitor’s map used by a local botanical garden and museum and has always been fascinated by maps.

Naturally, Leo decided to paint a map of that beloved river by relying on his own artistic ability. Leo experimented with different colors and styles to finally settle on a vintage style that gave the painting a golden look. He added a few symbols such as the ruby meridian, wildlife and vintage plane, with each having a story. Once completed, Leo found that others liked them so much they asked for copies. This gave Leo the idea to paint additional rivers, lakes and bays in order for others to treasure their favorite waters and Leo Lakes Décor Maps was born. Two years ago, Leo began selling décor maps over the web. Currently, more than 200 waterways from 36 states have been completed using USGS maps as guides. Here's a photo of my messy studio.



My mission is to recieve emails from customers like this: 
“One word... STUNNING! I am SO incredibly pleased. These gifts are for two very close friends that bought houses on Table Rock Lake this past year. I am so excited to give these to them. I am sure they will be pleased and they will be proudly displayed. Thank
you so much!"

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