Happy Halloween Weekend!

Hope y'all have a happy, fun and safe Halloween Weekend!

Part of my répertoire is doing photo restorations. This creepy photo is from a local Pennsylvanian historical society that I dealt with earlier this summer. Sadly I have no year or explanation for the photo other than it was for a town Halloween parade. I thought it was worth saving for this occasion! And yes, there are 2 pumpkin babies in this photo as well. Shudder!



For those of you who missed The Great Pumpkin this year, you can watch it here!...
http://www.hulu.com/watch/188640/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown

ps. Lucy's ~such~ a downer! GEEZ!!!

It Has Gotten Colder!

As a result I am already starting to miss wearing my Vibram FiveFingers shoes! They had become a staple to my wardrobe this past summer as I had bought them for more fitness related activities. After getting over the initial shock over how different these shoes are and breaking them in, I had noticed the benefit to wearing them rather immediately! Muscles in my legs had gotten stronger. My feet had become more flexible. My center of gravity felt better. Now that it's back to "normal" shoes for the fall and winter months, I am definitely noticing how much the traditional shoe design constricts the feet! I thought these shoes were the silliest things I had ever seen when I first read about them over a year ago, but now I'm a convert! It's nice to see the word spreading about these awesome shoes in the media and online. Check out their facebook page for more interesting info about the product: http://www.facebook.com/VibramFiveFingers

Talk about thinking oustide of the box though! As a designer, I have to give Vibram major props for this revolutionary product!

You Say You Want A Revolution

I've been doing some verrrrry interesting work for Revolution Kites this summer! First were their new t-shirt designs. I was thrilled when they contacted me! To create something that represents the sport I love, the best kite product on the market, and the wonderful people who make and fly them is so gratifying! They requested shirt designs which reflected the "family" spirit that exist among fliers across the globe as well as the team flying aspect that so many enjoy. "Rev" kite flying is a very social sport.



Just recently, I was honored to create a Custom Revolution Kite that was used to promote the Warner Brother's scifi series "V" at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con! How exciting!!! This kite was a global effort. After my design work was completed, the die sublimation printing was done by the fabulous Gonzales Brothers in Italy. I understand the team flying demo the convention was quite a hit! Yay!



These are exciting times for Rev fliers! It's a BIG week! This week will be a record attempt at 75 to 100 Revs in a Megafly at Long Beach, Washington! The largest global gathering thus far. Also indoor flier Connor Doran has been called back as a wildcard for America's Got Talent! He performs Tuesday night! My heart goes out to all of the fliers and I wish them the best of luck!

RIP Frank Frazetta 1928-2010

I may be a designer by trade, but I am an illustrator at heart. Frank Frazetta was one of my main artistic influences growing up and it is because of him that I pursued art as a career. There had been some ugly estate battles going on within his family of late which look as if they've been resolved. Frank did make peace with his eldest son before his fatal heart attack. I hope his children can pull together enough to get the museum back up and running. Frazetta's art should be viewable to the public! The reproduced images in print and online really do not do the paintings justice. Fantasy Art is still ART, no matter what the artworld elite say. Frank could crank out the best paintings full of color and life without much effort. I will always love his work, no matter where my own artistic journeys carry me. His paintings paved the way for so many other great artists and his influence clearly extended to the silver screen as well. The world has lost an icon on this day. :(

Until his official website is back up and running, you can see images of his work here:
http://frankfrazetta.org/
http://frazettaartgallery.com/

The Finished Product

When I worked for a printing company for many years, I was responsible not only for creating designs for our clients, but also the printing of those pieces as well. I literally took my design from concept to final product. It is an ability I sorely miss now that I have gone freelance. In today's global community, I can submit the final designs to my clients electronically across the globe. For as miraculous as that is, I rarely get to see the design in it's finished form. Furthermore I no longer have control over the print and color quality of my work and it frustrates me at times.

It is a thrill to me now when I get to see photos of my completed work. I am particularly pleased with the wind banners I have been designing lately. I created these personal banners for Ben Dantonio of Revolution Kites. These are successful designs on several levels. Not only do they convey Ben's personality, but they are also very easy to read from a distance. Case in point is this image from The Kite Loft's webcam during the Maryland International Kite Exposition. I cannot tell you how happy I was to see them in their intended environment! It was a double bonus for me as I had also spied the banners I had done for Team iQuad as well!

How Apropos!

How synchronous is it that I find that one of my submitted photos has finally been used at Coastal Living Magazine???! Furthermore this is National Kite Month!


You can see this photo on Coastal Living's site here.

National Kite Month runs from March 27th through May 2nd, 2010. Get out there in this beautiful spring weather and put some art in the sky! Don't forget to support your local kite festivals and organizations.

Happy New Year!

At Mark's request, I have added lots of new Tattoo Art to my brother's online gallery in recent weeks! You should go check it out. He has found inspiration in many asian influences of late. It has been very cool for me to witness the zen that he's been experiencing in his work. You can see more beautiful examples on his page here: http://www.leshockarts.com/mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I would like to take a moment and remind you that it is very important not only to support your local artisans these days, but also small business owners and freelancers. There are many many professional people out there like myself willing to provide you with the same excellent service that they once provided for larger companies. Our nation has been founded by entrepreneurs who were willing to take personal risks to see their dreams realized. With the unpredictable economy there has been a resurgence of that same individual spirit and determination. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be a part of that revolution? There's no better time to get fantastic work done by good people who want to do their best for you.

You Know You Want To!

Start your New Year by joining me and a cast of kick ass photographers in support of Scott Church's new show at the Mulberry Arts Studio in Lancaster, PA! C'mon! Beautiful people and beautiful images in a wonderful gallery... Sounds like the perfect way to start 2010. Many Thanks to Scott for such an opportunity! :D

Art In The Blood

I don't crow here nearly often enough about my brother, Mark. Part of the reason I had created my website was not only to promote my own artistic endeavors but his work as well. Mark has always been a fantastic artist and it pleases me to no end that he's been successful making a living from his own creativity. I see his personal art style evolving all of the time. It bears repeating that if you're looking to put some permanent art on your body by someone who is patient, health conscious, and listens to your ideas as well, you should seriously contact Mark.

You can view fine examples of his work here:
Leshock Arts
Wizard's World Of Tattoos

Promoting Great People

My longtime friend and guitar mentor, Rod DeGeorge, has just put out his first music video! You may recall reading about Rod when I launched this blog and did design work for his current CD, Cosmic Playground. Rod has an amazing talent and those fortunate enough to know him personally also know what a generous and modest soul he is. Check out his YouTube page for more guitar goodness!





Edit: Rod has had some misfortune behind the wheel of late. :( If you want to support a great artist and help with his medical bills, I highly recommend purchasing some of his music online. His MySpace page and website have the details:

http://www.myspace.com/roddegeorge
http://www.degeorgemusic.com/store.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On another personal note, it has not been a good summer at Casa Leshock. One of my family has been in and out of the hospital and it has been quite the daily struggle to keep my life and emotions in balance. My family is a huge part of my life and I come from one which is very close. We all suffer such things together. Also, I cannot stress enough how large a part music plays in my life. I owe half of my creative inspiration to listening to great music while I design. I find listening to the blues particularly cathartic when times are stressful. Before the medical issues had come to light, I was lucky enough to get tickets to see Joe Bonamassa for the second time this year and at Penn's Peak no less! This show came in the thick of some pretty heavy stuff I've been dealing with and it allowed me an escape for a few hours. That is no small feat! My personal thanks to Joe for putting on an awesome show and being another creative force you all out there should definitely take notice of!


http://www.jbonamassa.com/

Introducing The Aerostake!

Now available on my Etsy site and by request, I have created these colorful stakes with my sport kiting friends in mind! Those who fly know how important it is to have a stake which is unique to their personality and easy to spot on the field! Each stake is 10 inch steel with blunted tips and a hard polymer clay handle formed entirely by hand. No two are the same! Check back frequently for new stakes to be added! Custom colors are available by request. Due to outrageous expense of international shipping these days, I regret that I can only offer these within the USA at this time. My sincere apology to my overseas friends.

Tilt Shift

I've been reading alot lately about a photography technique referred to as Tilt-Shift. It is a technique which manipulates an image so that it appears as if one is viewing a set in miniature. Ever intrigued by such things, I decided to try my hand at it with my friend Colleen's photo taken at the The Huntington Kite Festival earlier this year...



Now compare to the original untouched photograph...



Interesting isn't it? I think I may have to experiment with this much further! In the meanwhile let me treat you to a video which excels at this! Hat tip to Peter Jones for the video link. :)

Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.