Shala Designs

To Err is Human, to Purr is Feline

There are no ordinary cats.

Eat, Sleep You’ll Feel Better

Stress can’t exist in the presence of pie.

In the Heart

Feel the intentions in your heart (and listen to what Winnie the Pooh tells you).

Cat Principles

Cats seem to go on the principle that it doesn’t hurt to ask for WHAT YOU WANT.

Bite You

I really kind of want you to PET ME but I also kind of want to BITE YOU. As every cat owner know… No one owns a cat.

I have a line I tell everyone who asks “where are you from?” I was born in New Jersey, raised in Florida, went to school in Colorado, got a job in San Francisco and moved to Kansas from LA. When I first came to Lawrence, the oasis of Kansas, I didn’t expect to stay very long….

Christmas

These Christmas card images are made from decorations in my house, my friends’ houses and the wintery wonderland of Lawrence, Kansas with one exception. My brother, Alan, use an infra-red technique to create the image of a large snow covered tree from a bright green tree on a summer’s day. Alan was brilliant!

Inspiration

Creating inspirational images was the reason I started working with photography at first. After choosing a picture to work with and completing the digital editing and enhancement, I meditate on the feeling I had when I took the photo. I want to evoke a feeling of joy and calm when people see my photography. I…

KU Campus

I’ve been working as a graphic designer for the University of Kansas Continuing Education for 25 years. My photography combines my love of spare fine type with vibrant images.

Macro Photography

I treated myself to a new toy that I’ve been wanting for a while: a macro lens! Rather than starting right off on flowers and insects, my first play-date was in the downtown antique mall. Then I realized the miniatures in my mounted printer tray would also look great through a macro lens. And I was right!

Animals

These photos of pets and zoo images are among my favorites. Animals are so pure on one hand and so hard to photograph on the other, that it becomes a very satisfying puzzle to get a good image.

We Are All Connected

Last year I received my level two Reiki initiation. I left me with the strong, pervasive feeling of one of the natural laws: everything has a conscience. These images give me that feeling as well as many others. Everyone feels a connection to a special type of animal, be it their “power animal” or some…

Favorite Photos

Some of my favorite, all-time digital manipulations. Enjoy…

Bokeh

Bokeh. Noun. Definition: a Japanese term for the subjective aesthetic quality of out-of-focus areas of a photographic image. Spoons at the antique mall, regular view and macro view, with bokeh.

Lawrence Farmers’ Market

I created postcards from these images to support and sustain the Lawrence Farmers’ Market. My favorite is the “spicy dino.”

Lap Dog

Can’t you just see this guy straddling you on the couch, staring you down, then settling into your warm spot after he got you to leave? He was very stoic when I got in close to take his picture at the Fiddling and Picking contest.

Deja-Vu

I think I’ve forgotten this before.

Tulips

I took these photos from the same bouquet of tulips last spring. I like showing them all together. I love the colors and freshness of them. Compassion

Daily Prayer

Prayer is very important in my life, as a connection to the rest of the world and everything in and around it, a higher being, my spirit guide and myself. Playing with light to illuminate these bowls is part of not only my expressions, but my meditation, too.

Welcome Home

I took this photo on a cloudy summer day from a rural dirt road right outside of Lawrence, Kansas. I added bokeh to the sky and brightened the colors of the clover to show off the best kind Kansas country home: humble and cozy.

Girl’s Best Friend

My friend’s daughter showed her horse “Brownie” in 4-H for many years, but then high-school hit and she was too busy with debate teams and boys. Now Brownie gets apple treats… If dogs are a man’s best friend, then horses are truly a girl’s best friend.

Ascend

One of my favorite photos. Taken in my garden in Lawrence, Kansas. I have multiple drawings, paintings and photos of dandelions. It lifts me just to see their downy white feathers and see them floating on a summer’s breeze.

Celebrate

Cupcakes from Backdoor Bakery photographed at the Lawrence Farmer’s Market. Ellie and Jeanette offer sweet necessities, from personal pies to captivating cupcakes, baked with the best of fresh, local, organic ingredients, the finest chocolates and the occasional unique flavor twist.

Elephant Eye

Another selection from my cool printer tray. I’m so glad I bought it. Now I have a reason to go to antique stores and collect things. Best of all, the things that fit into the tray are all very, very cheap. Sometimes, they’re free “finds!”

Fraiser Hall Flags

Went on campus yesterday to shoot a collection of alphabet letters on the buildings. Still working on those, but caught the Fraiser Hall flags while I was there. This may be my new postcard design!

The Most Beautiful View

Took this photo at the zoo on a summer’s afternoon. This guy kept up his beautiful display not for the peahens in the area, but for the popcorn. No fool he, the easiest way to a peacock’s heart is through his stomach!

Puppy Love

My sweetie, John Clayton, actually took this photo one bright winter day by the Kaw river. My fox terrier (pound-puppy mix) loves biting the snow. She’s quite fierce about it, but wants to come over and love you with her snowy muzzle.

Touch the Sky

Of course I love Rumi and read his poetry often. This quote seems to suit my late brother Alan’s photo so well. He took it on our last family vacation: a cruise to Alaska.

Country Bridal

Haven’t decided what words (if any) to pair with this photo: Western Wear? To Have & To Hold? Papa, don’t shoot?

Lawn Chair Security

I’ve been working with watercolors and found papers since Christmas, but I came back to this photo taken last fall. My neighbor has a big community “burn” of leaves and twigs. These are the chairs he pushed together for the clean-up afterward. The dog had just had a litter of pups and was very curious…

Magical Christmas Card

This is one of my brother’s photos, taken on a summer’s day in Florida using an infrared technique. A Florida boy his whole life, he experienced his first snow on a vacation with me and Sameah in Chicago one Thanksgiving. This photo shows off his amazing skills at composition and technique.

Adorable Holiday Cards

I’ve been really energized this holiday season.

Soaring Hawk

Love is not something your heart falls into, but something that picks it up and sets it soaring.

Resonate

I took this photo at the Lawrence Farmer’s Market. Almost called it “concentric resonance,” but that seemed too literal 🙂

Heal

I’ve been wanting to work with this photo for a long time. It’s a sunrise from the deck of my office building. One of the very first pictures I took with Alan’s camera.

Coherence

I put this poster up in my bedroom to help me meditate. It reminds me of my HeartMath coherence meditation. If you’re not familiar with HeartMath go here: www.heartmath.org

Baker Wetlands: Lawrence, Kansas

Taken at dusk in the newest part of the Baker Wetlands, these cattails were just off the lovely wooden bridge being built there. The slightest breeze, frogs and birdcalls made me feel like I was miles away from Lawrence, even though we were still in town.

Freelance Graphic Design & Art