About Megan Yalkut, graphic and web designer, artist, musician and dancer


	About Hamsa Design & Arts About Megan Yalkut Megan is a creative individual who enjoys offering her artistic and technical skills through various art forms, including graphic and web design, fine art and illustration, music and dance. She also loves learning new things and forever challenging her creative abilities. Megan received a BA in Visual Arts from Naropa Institute in Boulder, CO, as well as numerous certificates in Graphic Design, Web Design and Illustration. Her professional experience as a graphic designer and illustrator began in 1985. At that time she was lucky enough to gain a college work-study position at Fiske Planetarium in Boulder, Co, where she received on the job training in computer graphics, created artwork for the displays and shows, as well as advertising. Later she worked for the Santa Barbara News-Press where she became adept on various software and creating layouts on a deadline, as well as completing certificate programs in design software programs, commercial art, and internet design. All of this prepared her to form her own graphic design company in 1997, Hamsa Design, where she has enjoyed working with a variety of clients and continuously expanding her offerings. During her undergraduate years, Megan spent two years studying abroad in Nepal, India, and Bali where she focused on art and discovered her interest and abilities in Indian music. She later returned to Nepal and India for another year of study in the arts and music. In 1994 she became a student of Maestro Ali Akbar Khanshahib at his school in San Rafael, CA, where she returned every summer for continued musical studies. As a natural expression of her creative energies, Megan has also always loved dance from an early age. She began peforming modern dance at the age of 14 in Colorado and discoverd Oriental Dance 10 years later- which quickly became her favorite form of movement. With Alexandra King (director of the UCSB Middle Eastern Ensemble dance division) as her primary teacher, Megan studied many variations of Middle Eastern dance, and began performing and teaching as a means of sharing this beautiful art form. She has also trained with Persian dance master, Shahrzad Khorsandi, and loves to offer Persian Classical Dance classes and performances.