About the Artist - Shayala Diamond
 Shayala Diamond  Shayala and Wayne |
I was living in the Catskill Mountains in the late 1980's in a meditation retreat when I first learned to use my hands wiring beads to make malas or prayer beads. I had never worked with my hands before in that way or even considered myself artistic. Yet this was the work I was assigned to while living there and I loved it. When I left the ashram seven years later I didn't really have a clue what I was going to do with my life. However, I continued working with beads, making earrings and other pieces of jewelry which I'd give away or sell to friends. It wasn't until I came up with the design of my keychains with charms that Lotus Moon emerged and I found myself with a fledgling jewelry business. In September of 2000 I got married. We both decided to flee California because of the skyrocketing housing prices and traffic gridlock. Wayne and I moved to Bellingham, Washington near the Canadian border where I had graduated from college years ago. We found our quintessential cottage in the woods over the Internet and moved up two months later. Since moving to Bellingham, Lotus Moon has grown by leaps and bounds. Business doubled the first year here and tripled the next. My husband, Wayne decided to help me with production rather than start his own construction company. So we are both happily working away at home together here in the Pacific Northwest. It is really a dream come true doing what I love and making a living doing it. Shayala can be contacted at: |