AN ARTIST AT HOME: TRACY PORTER

Where do you work best at home?

I love working in our den/library. I have a set up in our bedroom as well which is also really a lovely place to write. Although I find myself always drawn into the library. I put on the fire, I put on all the lamps. I dim the overheads. I light a candle. It all feels so delicious and warm and inviting. It opens my mind. It allows me to go into a place that is inspired and magical. I keep stacks of books at my feet, all kinds, and a fresh notepad. I think that while I write well anywhere on an airplane, in my studio office, I just love the feeling I get from this room. It is red, which I love. I am surrounded by family paintings and drawings and photos. I look up at a photo of my French grandmother when I am stuck and I find my center again. I lose myself and this is so important to me.



What time of day would we find you there?

Depending on the day, I sometimes write at home during the week as the studio is full of loving interruptions nonstop.( by my own doing I realize) I can write anytime, any day. Once I have a cup of tea next to me and a little plate of cookies, I can fly. Sometimes I write at night, and then I will smell cooking from the kitchen as my husband John is a really fantastic cook. It really gets my creativity flowing to smell good food, then I spot of wine with that! I am as happy to write on a Sunday afternoon. Our son Gus may be napping, and Max, Fin and Sigerson might be on their own computers. I will sneak off to the library and just get down to it!!

What is your favorite comfort food at home?

I am a comfort foodie deep down in my heart and soul. Food is a luscious part of our world. It inspires me in so many ways. So...where to start...oh....my goodness!Well...I adore meatloaf, poached eggs are insanely delicious to me, Italian tomato bread soup, peach cobbler, pork loin roast.....I know, you only needed one food thought from me, but I am helpless, helplessly in love with comfort foods that make our house smell good. I'd be happy throwing some onions in my cast iron pan with some butter and just breathing that in!

How does home feed into your writing?

Our home is our nest. It's where I am inspired to be a great mom, a wonderful partner to my dear husband, an explorer. It's where so much goodness is every day. It is not perfect and I love that. It is scratched, and spilled on. It is dented and stained, but then so are all of us, and it makes each of us better. Our home inspires everything about our life because we have chosen to make it a home. We have allowed it to have a life. It is not treated as a museum, but rather a lovely breathing part of each of us. So, yes... it feeds my writing with its every breath. It is quirky and happy and real and noisy, and it has dog hair and little match box cars nearly everywhere you step,and that is where enchanting sits.



Tracy Porter, nationally known lifestyle, home & fashion designer, operates her multi-faceted design business from the rural college-town of Ripon, Wisconsin. Humble beginnings (1991) started with Tracy’s hand painted luxury furniture line created from her farm’s vintage chicken coop, left retailers on an exclusive waiting list for her one-of-a-kind treasures. Tracy is renowned for her fanciful dinnerware collections. Tracy’s recent foray into fashion has been an exciting addition to her brand. Tracy’s entrepreneurial bliss wouldn’t be complete without the warm life she’s built with husband and business partner, John, and their four young spirited boys. The Porter family resides on a country gentleman’s farm.

Visit Tracy's Website


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