This picture is of my wife and I while visiting Yosemite in California.

Who Am I…

My Name is Steve LeBlanc. I graduated from Butera School of Art in Boston, and began Jade Sign Design over 20 years ago. Named for my daughter Jade, I have worked very hard to make everything I do the very best it can be. If you’re going to put your daughters name on something, you better live up to it!

I have been blessed to work with some of the most gifted artists and sign painters, including Gregg Heger (gregghegergoldleaf), John Crutchfield (crutchfieldgallery.com), Nancy Brooks, Roy Mason (who we sadly lost in February of 2015), Steve DeStefano (Underground Chopper), Dave Roycroft, and many more.  I am so grateful for everything they have taught me. Unfortunately, hand made artwork, business signage, and pinstriping are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Although I enjoy my computer and my technology, everything that I do is by hand, and not another carbon copy of something someone printed from a website. I always put my own twist on everything that I do, and the businesses that I work with appreciate the fact that their work truck, their sign, or anything else they have me design for them, will be like nothing else out there.

GOLD LEAF:  One of the things I enjoy doing the most is creating custom gold leaf lettering. Working with gold leaf is a very unique form of artwork. It takes a lot of experience using it to know how to work with it, and it takes a lot of patience to make it come out right, and gleam in the sun. If you have something you wish to have gold leaf lettering done on, and you don’t live in Massachusetts, please call me – we can make it happen…

WHERE I COME FROM:  My father, Steven LeBlanc I, owned an auto body shop most of my life. I learned a lot about not only how to do auto body work, but how to prepare various surfaces for paint, and at a very young age he taught me the value of hard work. He taught me about being a perfectionist, and I witnessed first hand how much his customers valued the fact that they knew he would never let anything sub-par leave his shop. He was one of the hardest working people I have ever known, and he passed away just weeks after completing his last job, working until the very end, even though he had every reason to stop and relax. He had colorectal cancer, and I will take every opportunity to support organizations that are making progress in cancer research, like Stand Up To Cancer (Click here to read about how SU2Cs funding model is different, and where the money goes)). Both of my wife’s parents also lost their lives to cancer, among many other friends and family members for both of us, so we are extremely passionate about the subject, and hope you will join us when we have fundraising opportunities, and rallies. We would love to hear any ideas you might have about this as well.

WHAT I LIKE TO DO FOR FUN:  Outside of artwork, sign painting, and pinstriping, as you can see from the picture above, we love to be outdoors. We took a trip to New Brunswick, Canada, and tent camped our way around to the various places where the tides are so low as to leave boats stranded on land, and just a few hours later, right back up to shore. Ask us about our experiences with poutine – a local “delicacy”.

We love our church family, and rarely pass up an opportunity to fellowship with any Christian, but we also live by the words of Jesus, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:17. We are not called to go around pointing the finger at others, “he who is without sin cast the first stone…” John 8:7.

My daughter Jade is a gifted massage therapist, who also loves all things creative, and loves the outdoors. She is a beautiful, strong woman, and has pretty much operated every power tool you can imagine. Ask her to use a planer or fix a toilet, she’s more than capable.

MISSION TRIPS & YOUTH GROUP:  I have been involved with my youth group at church, and, having gone through some tough stuff as a teen, I just have a soft heart when it comes to teenagers.  I love to be involved with anything that might build them up, and give them opportunities to serve their community.  We have been on several mission trips together, both work trips and evangelical, and those experiences are forever a part of whom I am and who I want to be.

I would often say to my wife, “I wish every teenager would be required to go on a mission trip, to a place where they could really understand how very much most of us have in this country.”  So, of course, when I was given the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Haiti, I went.  The people there, despite their circumstances, were the most happy, loving, and absolutely beautiful people I have ever met, inside and out.  It was one of the most amazing and life changing experiences of my life, and I would encourage anyone contemplating a mission trip to take advantage of the opportunity.  You will think you are going to serve, but will definitely come back blessed.

Of course, like most people who live in New England, I desire to live in a warmer climate, and my dream has been to live in Hawaii…even though I have never even visited there!  The winter of 2014-15 almost did me in.  Although I enjoy plowing at times, this past winter when we had a blizzard almost every Thursday for months, and I did several shifts of days at a time…I would be very happy never to go through that again.  My wife and I have a new found appreciation for all the plow truck drivers, mechanics that work in the barns, and Emergency personnel who have to not only drive in the stuff, but have to protect all of us (thanks cousin Dean!), and get very sick people to hospitals under pressure.  Grateful doesn’t even begin to cover it…

My life is pretty much an open book! Feel free to ask me any questions you might have. If there is something you are looking for, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I have no problem referring you to other artists or sign painters if there is something you want/need that I can’t provide. I’m not one of those people who is competitive or territorial. I’m grateful for those around me who appreciate the work that goes into something hand done, and happy to send you to them when necessary.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Steve LeBlanc II & Family