About Sheryl Checkman

Sheryl Checkman is an award-winning designer with more than 25 years' experience in applying innovative yet pragmatic solutions to the full range of communications and design challenges. Before opening Checkman Design, Sheryl was Vice President & Manager, Design Services, for the public relations agency Burson-Marsteller from 1981-1992. Prior to that she was an Art Director at the The Barton Gillet Company, a marketing communications firm. Sheryl graduated from Cornell University and attended a Masters program in Communications Design at Pratt Institute as well as a three-month design program at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. She graduated from the High School of Music & Art in New York City. Sheryl is an avid skier and scuba diver. She swims, plays tennis, practices yoga and enjoys taking pictures, both above and below the water. She adds her creative signature to her photographs by creating Digital Fine Art which she currently exhibits in her online gallery. She recently launched a line of inspirational sports-themed T-shirts under the name Life is Balance®. In addition to her design work, Sheryl also creates custom photomontages for a variety of corporate and consumer clients.

Summer Days – A Photo Journal, Part 1: Beaches

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Sheryl Checkman

For me summer is that time of year that I love the most. Flip flops and sundresses, dining al fresco and basking in the sun by the shore. Lazy days, warm evenings and magical sunsets…bliss! For the next few posts, I am going to keep it simple and share with you some of my photos that reflect what summer means to me. First up: beaches! I was lucky enough to start my summer off with two trips to the tropics, first a business trip (yes I said business) to Punta Mita on Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit, and then a scuba trip to the Turks and Caicos! Follow that with New York’s beautiful Long Beach and I’ve been to some pretty special beaches so far this summer! Three very different beaches, each with their own personality!

Beach at the Four Seasons Resort, Punta Mita, Mexico

Grace Bay, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos

Long Beach, New York

Next up…Summer Sunsets!

Challenges in Yoga mirror challenges in life

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Sheryl Checkman

Firefly pose side view

Yoga is a never-ending practice of self-exploration. Each practice is different. What I can do one day, I may not be able to to the next. On the other hand, what was once difficult can also become obtainable. The same is true in life. My yoga practice allows me to check-in with my body and mind for 75-90 minutes and explore the possibilities and boundaries for the day. Being a somewhat “type-A” personality, I like to challenge myself, working on guiding my body into new, often difficult poses – preferably without hurting myself. The key here is to listen to my body’s signals, and know when to stop. I may not be ready to get there today, but maybe next time.

Headstand is one of those yoga poses that I thought I would never be able to do. It just looked too scary to me to even try. But I did try it and thanks to my wonderful yoga instructor Suzanne and the intention that I set for myself to overcome my fears, I now can do it with very little effort, and no fear. I don’t even need the wall (most of the time!).

Next, I challenged myself to learn Firefly, or Tittibhasana, as it is known in sanskrit. This is an arm balance pose that requires a lot of core strength. My instructor told me how to start out using blocks to get into the pose at first I then looked at some pictures and videos online showing the full pose and little by little I have been able to accomplish it. No longer using the blocks, I can now hold the pose longer and get my legs out straighter at each new attempt. If I fall out of the pose, I just try again. No judgement. I found this video online that gives a good explanation of the pose. Next up: Side Crow!

Firefly pose front view

What I have learned through challenging myself in yoga is that whether or not I am able to do the full pose is irrelevant, it is that I keep trying, accepting each days’ accomplishments for what they are, without judging myself. I may never achieve the full pose, and that’s ok. It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. Now the biggest challenge is to take this into my life off the mat.

What challenges are you working on?

I could have swam with Diana Nyad!

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Sheryl Checkman

Diana Nyad swims 48 hours in Herald Square

How many times do you find yourself saying, “If only…”? For me the latest version came when I walked over to Herald Square a couple of week nights ago and saw Diana Nyad at about the 12 hour mark of her 48 hour swim to benefit the New York victims of Hurricane Sandy. Being a swimmer myself, I thought how cool it would be to swim beside her for a few laps. I walked over to one of the security guards and asked how one would get to join her in the pool. Alas, I would have had to sign up weeks ago! If only I had found out about this opportunity to swim beside Diana Nyad in time to sign up, I would have had an experience of a lifetime! But, just standing along the edge of the pool, so close to the water that I could have touched it was still an amazing experience!

Diana Nyad is an inspiration! After 30 years she finally realized her life-long dream to swim 103 miles from Cuba to Key West this past September. Her failed attempts over the years never caused her to give up that dream. While the thought of all those hours in the water makes my skin prune, I admire her determination and I applaud her success. It just makes me want to keep on striving to achieve my dreams. After all, anything is possible if you keep going after it!