Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I have always been very inspired by Celtic art and design. My personal logo even reflects that interest. The Celtic Nations have always possessed a wonderful joyful spirit rich in history, art and of course music. They are a strong hard working people who still found a way to celebrate life even during the toughest of times. I admire that. When St. Patrick's Day rolls around, that spirit is what I celebrate since I cannot claim any celtic heritage. May your shamrocks been green and not your drinks today! ;D

ps. For those that are Xm/Sirius listeners, tune into channel 45 today! :)

Happy March!

http://www.zazzle.com/leshockarts/gifts?cg=196576609638505094

In honor of my birth month, I'm happy to announce that I've added iPhone cases to my Zazzle site! There are more designs coming in the days ahead. In the meantime please feel free to peruse the selection and add some awesome custom art to protect your phone! You might even find some cool apparel to match! iPad cases coming soon...

Happy Valentine's Day!

What would Valentine's Day be without a little bit of candy? My personal favorite of all are chocolate covered pretzels! Lucky for me I live in Pennsylvania where they originated in the USA from German immigrants and are plentiful! Pretzels even look like little hearts, so to me they make the perfect gift and expression of love at any time of year. My pretzel of choice comes from Tom Sturgis Pretzels, but visit any candy maker worth their salt and you'll find chocolate covered pretzels. My home turf was once filled with many different candy making families. Sadly they have been disappearing over the years, but a few great places are still standing the test of time. One such candy maker is Premise Maid Candies in Breinigsville, PA. Beyond their killer selection of fine candies and chocolates, they also provide a really wonderful atmosphere in which to shop. I can't resist the temptation of popping in there from time to time. During the non holiday season they also sell ice cream, coffees and both home made and local desserts in their cafe. It's fun to visit their old world shoppes located out in the middle of the beautiful rolling farmland. I love to patronize local small businesses who are doing things right!

A Fresh Start

Happy New Year Everyone! While it is no secret that I am not a fan of winter, it does provide an awful pretty landscape sometimes! Truth be told, I would probably miss this if I lived in a warmer part of the country. I went out to the lake today to see what effect the cold weather was having on the water. These photos do not reflect the fact that the wind was ripping today! BRR!

Small Business Saturday!

In honor of Small Business Saturday I've added quite a few new products to my online Zazzle shop! I have quite a variety of t-shirt designs, men's ties, mugs and drink ware available. I am particularly thrilled with the line of custom sneakers produced by Keds! I will be adding even more products in the next few days, both to my Zazzle shop and photography site so please stay tuned! Perhaps you'll find something cool for your loved ones this holiday season!


http://www.zazzle.com/leshockarts
Please note Zazzle's online coupon codes which appear at the top of the page!

Needless to say that I hope you all get out and patronize your local small businesses whether they be brick and mortar storefronts, independently owned restaurants, your local artisans or those with online shops and services like myself. There's nothing like giving back to your community businesses. Who understands your needs and gives you personal service better then they? As someone who has worked for small businesses all of my life I can tell you what a vital part of the economy they represent. Go save a local business today!

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

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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.