1) First things first, please tell me about yourself.
Hi, I’m Tracy Markey, I was born in London and I now live in Perth with my lovely partner. I work part-time for a whisky company which helps me fund my felting obsession!
2) How long have you been making felt items for and have you ever tried any other crafts?
I’ve been felting for about five years now and got into it totally by accident – we were out cycling when we passed Twist Fibre Crafts shop in Newburgh, this is a great shop which introduced me to feltmaking and I’ve been hooked ever since. I’ve also tried my hand at a few other crafts: paper-making, which was great but a totally different experience: instead of working with warm, soft wool I was working with wet, cold plant fibres! I’ve done a couple of pottery courses too and am hoping to do some more this summer. And I’ve recently completed a couple of weaving workshops at Stirling Castle which have been great, just wish I had more time to practice!
3) What crafty thing would you like to try next?
I would love to learn glass making or how to work with cane – my granddad was a chair caner, my mum still has a chair he made and it’s a work of art.
4) Something all creative people like to know – where do you get your inspiration from?
Oh gosh, from far too many places! I can’t really complain but I seem to have so many ideas and not enough time to make everything. Anything can spark an idea – a costume in a film, a painting, colours in the landscape, a pattern in tree bark … I’ve now started to try to capture them all in a notebook so that I can start working my way through them as time allows.
5) Apart from crafting, what else do you do in your spare time?
We love to get out into the great outdoors, camping, birdwatching, cycling, hiking, bat surveys and have just started to get into astronomy! Last year we tried our hand at gardening and now have a veg plot where our lawn used to be. We’re also in the middle of starting a small publishing press which will allow us to publish poets just starting out, which I’m really excited about.
6) On to non-crafty things... Where is your favourite place in the world and where would you love to visit?
I love the Isle of Lewis, I lived there for just under a year and still miss it. The landscape is amazing, massive skies, beautiful beaches, lots of wildlife, there’s nowhere quite like it. I would love to visit Mongolia, it would be great to visit a place which has inspired me so much and which, to me, is the home of feltmaking. I’m planning to visit soon (too soon!) to celebrate my 40th.
7) What’s your favourite season and why?
Oooh that’s tough, I like each season apart from winter! Hhhhhm, probably spring because everything starts to wake up again after winter and it’s so great to see plants come into flower again.
Oooh that’s tough, I like each season apart from winter! Hhhhhm, probably spring because everything starts to wake up again after winter and it’s so great to see plants come into flower again.
8) Is there anything that you’re secretly expert at?
Wouldn’t it be great if I could reveal a super-hero secret power like flying?! :)
9) If you could live a day in someone else’s shoes, who would it be and why?
I can’t think of anyone to be honest, I’m quite happy being me! The only ‘someone else’ I can think of is me in a few years: a successful textile artist with her own shop and gallery, who has exhibited to great acclaim, and runs very popular feltmaking workshops.
10) One of my favourite things... food. What do you love? What do you hate?
I love love love food, as long as it’s veggie. I have a real weakness for cheese, there’s no meal that can’t be improved by the addition of cheese! Hate: meat and any food which has animal products sneakily added, like gelatine in sweets!
I love love love food, as long as it’s veggie. I have a real weakness for cheese, there’s no meal that can’t be improved by the addition of cheese! Hate: meat and any food which has animal products sneakily added, like gelatine in sweets!
11) Is there anything else you would like people to know about you or your felt making?
All of my work is made from felt which I have hand made. It’s really important to me to make items which people are happy with, I put a lot of time and love into creating each piece individually and no two items are ever the same. If you would like to know more, you can visit my blog at: http://www.narkeymarkeysblog.blogspot.com/ or if you would like to see more of my work you can visit my online shop at : http://www.fatcatfelt.folksy.com/
Thanks Tracy! Good luck with the publishing – sounds really interesting. And I hope you get to visit Mongolia very soon – that would be amazing!
Thanks Tracy! Good luck with the publishing – sounds really interesting. And I hope you get to visit Mongolia very soon – that would be amazing!
This is a great interview!
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