At the Local Club Dinner event in Cordova, TN, Tracy held a brief Q&A. Although no photos were shown, he talked about his 2014 Keepsake ornaments and provided a few insights into several of the pieces he is working on for 2015.

During the session he spoke about the second in the “Tree Trimmers” series. In addition to saying the piece was designed with Elvis in mind, he said he was excited to have it selected to appear on the cover of the Dream Book. He went on to say this was only the second time* in his 28-year career as a Keepsake Artist that one of his pieces has appeared on the cover, the first being in 1997 (the year his work debuted) when his Mickey & Co. inspired “New Pair of Skates” (QXD4032) shared the cover with “Steeling a Kiss” (QX6555) By Sue Tague and “Rocking Horse” (QXM4303), 10th and final in the series by Linda Sickman.

Tracy also spoke about “Snow Fun Ferris Wheel”, his venture into the the world of magic, light and movement. An interesting piece of trivia he shared was, although Ferris wheels usually rotate clockwise, this one rotates counter clockwise.

Another interesting piece of trivia Tracy shared was that although he submitted the concept for “Hark! Music Fills the Air!,” (QXI2563)-this years PEANUTS® Gang chorale ornament-in 2008, the year after “Ringing in Christmas” (QXI4309) was released, it wasn’t until this year that the design was realized.

Tracy revealed that the Santa sculptures created by three Keepsake Artists during a wood carving workshop, and then auctioned off as part of last year’s “Hangin’ With Your Buddies!” event, would be re-imagined as ornaments and offered for sale at next year’s event.

As for future projects, Tracy said he is working on: a new elf series, a follow up piece to this years “Surfin’ Safari Santa” which will be based on another Beach Boys song and a big piece that features Santa in flight. This large scale piece is expected to be on par with Ken Crow’s annual masterpieces. Tracy also said he is currently collaborating with two other studio artists on a Frosty Friends tabletop piece.

As a side note Tracy mentioned that the coffee grinder he created for Mrs. Claus’ Kitchen Sink, this year’s In-Store signing event piece, was accidentally placed on the wrong spot. As a result of being placed too close to the front of the shelf, the grinder’s handle sticks out making it prone to breakage. As such, he cautions people to be careful when handling this piece.

*NOTE: “100 Years of Helping You Say It All” (QXG3403) a piece Tracy created in collaboration with Don Palmiter also appeared on the cover of the 2010 Keepsake Ornament Club edition Dream Book.