Paul is the director of the Paul A. LeVine Graphic and Design Workshops and owner of a landscape design and sports art firm headquartered in Finksburg, Maryland. He is a Landscape Architecture graduate of West Virginia University '89, a former member of the WVU varsity soccer team, and as a sophomore the University's Athletic Department published 13 of his drawings. Prior to graduation he had 21 works of art published and over 25 galleries throughout the United States were carrying his artwork. As a junior his lacrosse artwork was prominantly displayed in the Lacrosse Hall of Fame Museum. While a sophomore in college he created a product called Personalized Sport Art^TM. Twenty years later he has sold more than 70,000 pieces of art and is one of the nation's leading sports artists and residential landscape designers. Paul's loves of art and landscape architecture run on parallel paths and he is often asked, which one does he like more — Landscape Architecture or Art?

"Both! Drawing, creating, inventing, designing, toss a coin, I love it all. I don't do all this creative stuff because I want to--I just can't help it. As long as I am on the board developing wonderful outdoor entertaining spaces for my clients, being commissioned to create drawings of America's favorite athletes or our architectural landmarks, I am happy either way. I truly am lucky--I get to do what I love and I love what I do."

His career took off in his first meeting with the legendary Baltimore Orioles baseball team 1½ years out of college when he landed two commissions. He was asked to create art, gifts and products for the various activities surrounding the closing of Memorial Stadium in 1991 and the opening of Oriole Park at Camden Yards in 1992. His third commission was to create a one of a kind gift for one of Hollywood's most famous directors, Baltimore native and O's fan Barry Levinson, for the opening festivities of Oriole Park. His fourth commission included the honor of the coveted title "The Official Artist for the 1993 MLB All Star Game," held at the freshly-minted new Stadium, Oriole Park at Camden Yards. For his fifth comission he was called upon to design the Orioles 40th Anniversary logo. He then began to do work for the Washington Capitals, Wizards and Redskins. In only a few years Paul found himself rubbing shoulders with his sports heroes and some of the sports industry's most profound and prominent people whose work he had studied and admired for years. He also began drawing local and regional architectural landmarks while gearing up for the national market and building his residential landscape design business. In the mid 90's he landed his first commission with the prestigious Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, and to this day consistently does work for them. In 1998 he was bestowed the title "Official Artist for the 1998 Baltimore Ravens Inaugural Stadium Season" and was asked to create and develop stadium merchandise that would be sold at the stadium and through the Ravens mail-order catalog and local department stores.

Currently more than 190 stores, galleries, mail-order catalogs and internet sites carry and sell Paul's art. However, with all the prominent names and accomplishments in his portfolio he is most proud of four accomplishments:

• The product he created as a sophomore, Personalized Sports Art^TM, with more than 70,000 pieces of art sold today.

• Making the WVU varsity soccer team as a walk on, it was a huge accomplishment playing for a Division 1 soccer team.

• Being a self taught artist, developing an artistic flair with pen and ink and creative style that is distinctively his own.

• Against huge odds, getting a college degree and graduating second in my class from the Landscape Architecture Program at WVU, is what I am MOST proud of. Paul is dyslexic and went through high school and college undiagnosed. With poor marks in high school he was profoundly determined to go to college and graduate with a Landscape Architecture degree. Although he had aspirations for higher education and a hunger for knowledge, everybody had given up on his academics and college hopes, except him. Paul knew he learned differently and had a focused determination to absorb information by touching and doing, not by reading and writing. In 1984 he began his academic career at Anne Arundel Community College(AACC).

At AACC he had the freedom to select touch and feel courses that would allow him to absorb information, earning a 3.0 GPA in his first semester. He was also a starter on the varsity soccer team and worked weekends and evenings digging holes and tossing pizzas. Second semester was a repeat performance, earning another 3.0 except he had his art portfolio stolen from one of his art classes and never took an art class again. Now armed with a huge amount of academic confidence he was ready to give a major university a shot. In 1985 he was accepted to WVU, where he thrived in the Landscape Architecture program when it came to creativity. After four years of building a future in Morgantown, ironically, only one year removed from college, he was tested for learning disabilities and was diagnosed with 3 types of dyslexia.

There are five people Paul gives enormous credit to during the beginning of his career:

Kevin Keys	He worked in the sports information department at WVU and hired Paul to draw the entire basketball team (13 drawings), each being published in the player profile section of Mountaineer Illustrated, the home game program for the basketball team.
Steve Stenersen	Who was and still is the Executive Director of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame Museum in Baltimore, Maryland (US Lacrosse). He displayed 2 or 3 of Paul's lacrosse drawings in the Lacrosse Hall of Fame Museum when he was just a junior in college (this act alone meant "I belong,") and in 1988 this was the igniter for his entire sports art career. Without question this was the motivation for him to dive hard and aggressive towards his entire sports art career.
Dr. Alon Kvashny	He was my advisor and one of my Landscape Architecture professors. He always knew I had some type of learning disability and pointed me in the right direction for core classes and guided me through the LA program. To this day Doc and I are still great friends. He is currently the Landscape Architecture Chairman at Texas Tech for graduate and undergraduate programs. He was the first and only person who cared if I succeeded in the academic world. I owe him a lot.
David Cope	For many years I worked for David when he was with the Orioles and Ravens. This is where I learned how to accomplish business tasks in minutes and seconds. He would only give me and others 2-3 minutes per phone call/per day. This is where I also learned how to honor my word with a handshake, and to work diligently. In the course of the 10 years that we worked together we never had a written contractual document or agreement between us. My business model today is derived from my relationship with David "do what needs to be done, be good at it, meet deadlines, work diligently and return phone calls rapidly."
My Uncle Cy	In 1991 when I wanted to start my own business, I called Uncle Cy (who had worked for Howard Hughes) and asked if I could borrow money to start a business. He said write me a business proposal and I did. I worked hard and paid him back within 5 years. My daughter Cy'Enna is named after him. Our life would not be where it is today without his belief in me. We as a family love him and thank him with all our hearts.
WVU	Ever since I was a sophomore in high school, I wanted to become a landscape architect. Each summer during high school, I worked for a landscape company (Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville, MD) digging holes and learning plant names, preparing myself for college. My first dream came true when I was accepted to WVU. Each summer during college I continued to dig holes and learn more about plants while gaining important field knowledge. WVU was truly the GREATEST thing that happened to me when I was a kid.

Paul was born in Nuremberg, Germany in 1965, but has lived in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay area for most of his life. He graduated from West Virginia University in 1989, worked for an engineering firm for a year, and in 1991 he started his own sports art and landscape design business. He is married to his beautiful wife Mel and they have one daughter Cy'Enna. The family lives in Finksburg, MD.
 
Personal quotes I thrive to live by:

Be creative and do what other people aren't doing.

Create what you feel and feel what you create.

Be nice, be kind, be humble.



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