Makelight Makers

Shelly Sennikoff and Joseph Richard Negro, the makers of Makelight. And in secondary mascot rolls, their two cats Noche and Cholla.

Shelly Sennikoff

A self-taught photographer, Shelly discovered an interest in the subject at an early age, taking snapshots on family vacations. The most memorable was one up the coast of California, where she plowed through rolls of film on her 110 camera during a tour of Hearst Castle. That interest turned into a passion when she took her first photography class in high school. She's been shooting ever since, portraying her particular view of the world.

She has also recently discovered a fascination for woodworking. She enjoys spending her weekends in the workshop, developing new ideas about how to merge this new love with her love of photography. It was here that the light boxes on this site were created.

A Southern California native, she currently lingers in Lakewood. She has a Master's degree in Decision Science and works as a budget analyst at a local non-profit to support her habits of travel, photography, and making light.

Joseph Richard Negro

Son of a Graphic Designer and Photographer and grandson to a cabinet builder, making things is all he's ever known and done. Designing and producing album/laserdisc covers for Voyager, Criterion Collection, Sympathy for the Record Industry, and SST, package design for Rite Design, and O.R.E., and web design/development for Legal Aid Foundation Los Angeles, Nestle, Wells Fargo, Epson, Staples, and Northgate Markets.

Sasha - Mascot

Pampered. Overweight. Mascot. Sasha adopted Shelly in 1996 while living in Pasadena. Big-boned by nature, Sasha started putting on the real weight after moving in with Shelly, a testament to the old adage, "all food and no work make Sasha a fat cat." Surviving numerous roommates, address changes, and everything didn't phase Sasha. She was cool with it as long as her food bowl was full. She provided Shelly with unconditional love up until July of 2012 when she died peacefully at home at the ripe old age of 19. She was loved by many.

Noche

Noche is Shelly's Cat 2.0, a chatty and agile black Burmese mash-up. Noche is named after the night (it means 'night' in Spanish). She's laid back, always hungry, and ready for a catnip mouse any time of day. We can usually find her laying on her favorite box basking in the sun.

Cholla

Cholla (Choy-ya) is Shelly's Cat 2.1, a prickly and fussy little black runt. She is named after the Teddy Bear Cholla Cactus (which also means 'head' in Spanish) due to her warm and easy going personality (sarcasm). She's nervous about everything, cries often, and runs under the couch when she doesn't get her way. Despite her anti-socialness, she is more inquistive and interactive with us than Noche. The two cats are really night and head.