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Haines, Sharon Chartier — Natural Accents

Park City, KY

Products

dried flower wreaths

Sharon Chartier Haines has degrees in Home Economics and Art from Western Michigan University. She taught high school art, home economics and industrial arts in Michigan in the 1970’s before moving to Western Kentucky in 1979. She completed her Rank II Teacher Certification at Western Kentucky University and was a substitute teacher in the early 1980s. In 1984 she began her craft business, Natural Accents.

The herbs, everlastings, flowering annuals, perennials and grapevines Sharon works with are grown on her 225 acre farm. Her husband raises registered Angus cattle and she raises a full acre of flowers, herbs and vegetables in three separate gardens. She starts seedlings under lights in the basement in the winter, transfers them to a cold frame and then plants them. Weeding, watering, harvesting and preserving her plant materials takes up most of Sharon’s year. She tries new plants each year and also searches fields and roadsides for interesting plants to dry.

To preserve her plant material, Sharon air dries them in her attic, barns and basement. In addition, she uses silica gel, glycerin, bleach, dyes and a dehydrator.

Sharon’s work can be found at Promenade Gallery, Berea, KY; and the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea, Berea, KY.