# Upstream Lion

> Dan La Ferlita designs and builds websites for small businesses, and makes gothic horror art, coloring books, journals and resin sculpture under the Upstream Lion name. Based in Connecticut. Contact: upstreamlion@gmail.com

Last updated: 2026-10-25

## Web design

- [Web design services](https://upstreamlion.com/web-design.html): hand-coded websites for small businesses, set up for Google and AI search.
- New websites: Custom-designed and hand-coded, so the site fits your business instead of a template.
- Redesigns and moves: Off Wix, GoDaddy or an aging WordPress site, with your old links kept working.
- Search and AI visibility: The behind-the-scenes setup that helps Google and AI assistants find you and describe you correctly.
- Second-language versions: A full translated site that stays in sync with the original.
- Speed and hosting: Fast hosting, compressed images and caching, set up and handed over.
- Yours to keep: You own the files, the domain and the accounts. No lock-in.
- Portfolio: [All Electrical Contractors](https://aec-electrical.co.za/), Bilingual website for a licensed electrical contractor in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa, covering solar, electrical and security services.
- Background: digital marketing and customer experience since 2014 for brands including Charter Communications, Subway and Sun Life; degrees in graphic design and architectural engineering; MBA.

## Art

- [Gallery](https://upstreamlion.com/gallery.html): 23 finished pieces (paintings, drawings, sculpture), each painting shown from first sketch to finished canvas.
- The Cure: A stitched-leather plague doctor lit from inside by fire, embers where the eyes should be. The cure worse than the plague. (Acrylic on canvas)
- The Old One: Cthulhu surfacing through drowned greens, sigils pulsing red in the black. Dreaming long before any of us. (Acrylic on canvas, painted live at RPM Fest)
- Baphomet’s Rest: A horned skull laid down to sleep, the old goat finally gone quiet. More memorial than menace. (Acrylic on canvas)
- Half-Life: An anatomical heart glowing like it’s radioactive. Half still beating, half already gone. (Acrylic on canvas)
- Even the Embers: A green-rotted skull rising from a fire that climbs black up to red. What still glows after everything else burned down. (Acrylic on canvas)
- Snuffed Out: A skull melting into black tar, its last light going under. A play on a friend’s name, dark humor baked right in. (Acrylic on canvas)
- Originals and custom resin pieces are available by request through the contact page.

## Books (sold on Amazon)

- [Occult Demonology](https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Explorers-Handbook-Demonology-Hand-Illustrated/dp/B0GYZM1Y8C) (Shadow Explorers Handbook): Demons of the infernal hierarchy, with rank and forbidden lore.
- [Occult Angelology](https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Explorers-Handbook-Angelology-Handbooks/dp/B0FN967LH1) (Shadow Explorers Handbook): The angels of the old hierarchies, drawn for coloring.
- [American Cryptid](https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Explorers-Handbook-Compendium-Anomalous/dp/B0H12J71RK) (Shadow Explorers Handbook): A field compendium of 50 anomalous specimens, one native to each state.
- [Archives from the Asylum](https://www.amazon.com/Archives-Asylum-Screams-Silenced-Unleashed/dp/B0FJ8QX78Y): A 365-day journal for those with a dark past, with shadow sanctuaries for open thoughts among hand-drawn original art.

## Shop and events

- [Shirts on Etsy](https://www.etsy.com/shop/UpstreamLion): original designs, made to order. This website has no store.
- [Events](https://upstreamlion.com/events.html): horror conventions, oddities expos and night markets across the Northeast US. New dates are posted on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/upstream_lion_publishing/) first.

## About

- [About Dan La Ferlita](https://upstreamlion.com/about.html)
- Born in Connecticut; grew up in Manila, Philippines, from age 2 to 13.
- Undergraduate degrees in architectural engineering and graphic design, with minors in fine art and art history; MBA with a specialization in economics.
- Digital marketing and customer experience since 2014 for brands including Charter Communications, Subway and Sun Life.
- Lost 310 pounds and became a NASM Certified Personal Trainer.
- First book, Art Affirmations & Coloring, May 2024. Featured in Milford City Lifestyle, Winter 2026.

## Machine-readable

- [site.json](https://upstreamlion.com/data/site.json): everything on this page as structured data.
- WebMCP: pages register read-only tools for AI agents in browsers that support navigator.modelContext.