The Spirit of Curlew Lake / Designs by Sharlene

The Spirit of Curlew Lake

Sharlene Ketrenos grew up in Woodinville and as a youngster moved to Curlew with her family, where they lived a few miles away from “Spirit of Curlew Lake.” She is a country girl at heart, with a love of the outdoors in her bones. It is here that she fished, rode horses, bathed at a swim hole and rode motorcycles in her bikini. She has a unique background in business and making things over whether it be people or places. Sharlene developed her flare for business by selling her art creations in grade school. In second grade, she would make flowers, hearts, and jewelry out of electrical wiring and brought them to school to sell to her classmates. She was really motivated to make more money and was pushed to do it when she was 13. That was the year her father died. After that tragic event, the family was so poor that they couldn’t afford food and had to go into the woods and catch a deer and find wild mushrooms in order to eat. She had to duct tape her shoes in order to play sports.

Being independent and making money to support the family after this tragedy struck became important to Sharlene. This was a difficult time for her, but it is also what drove her to grow and do better with her creations and in creating her own business. In high school, she sold acrylic paintings that she painted myself. Her teacher would buy her art which made her happy and this encouraged her to go bigger. Sharlene graduated at the top of her class at Curlew High School and then went on to conquer the world. She toured Europe playing volleyball with an AAU team representing the USA. She studied the arts, became a mom, and raised her kids.

Sharlene went on to work with notable people. She worked with Gene Epstein who owned several photography studios in the Seattle area. Sharlene initiated before and after makeovers called “Glamor Shots.” Sharlene did some work with Marco DeSylva whose family owned Metasport. She did designs for the family and worked with them for about six months. Sharlene worked with one of the guys (David) who did OxiClean and orange Glow before the company became well-known. He wasn’t having much success selling the product, so she sold the product her own way and would sell out at fairs. David wound up filming Sharlene and using her pitch. Sharlene worked with Michael Rodgers in 2000 where he had her makeover his studio. While she was working with Michael, she wound up doing backdrops for a photographer (James) who was working for Ralph Lauren. Sharlene started making over houses shortly after working with Michael Rodgers.

Doing the shows were burning out Sharlene, so she moved back to Curlew, finally settling at the Lake. Her desire to excel, to create, and find harmony in the world is all found alive and well in the walls, ceiling, floors, and surroundings of the great house we call the “Spirit of Curlew Lake”. She built “Spirit of Curlew Lake” from the ground up with a spa and a place to do makeovers and helping other people blossom. She wanted to help with tourism in the area of Ferry County because the area is very poor. She also wanted to help people unwind and get away from the city. She built the house in 2002. Off of this, she did the designs and textures and painted a sky on the ceiling. Sharlene came up with original paint designs that as far as she knows, know no one else is doing.

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