Tie Tracks Designer is Giving Away Ties: Buy one for $20, and she’ll donate one to a gentleman in need

Listen to the podcast on Inkandescent Radio This holiday season: Give the gift that keeps on giving — a beautiful hand-painted tie!

Does your guy hate to wear a tie? Kay Stratman's husband sure did until she was inspired to create a line of hand-painted cravats featuring his favorite thing: nature.

While sporting a tie always shows you are dressing for success, in the era of COVID, wearing a cravat during a Zoom distance job interview or an online meeting shows you are truly a professional.

“Even if you are just suiting up for a Zoom call from the waist up, wearing a gorgeous silk tie sends the message that you are a professional,” says Wyoming-based fine artist Kay Stratman, founder of the hand-painted silk tie company Tie Tracks.

Since Kay created her firm in 1998, she has sold hundreds of ties to prepare men to look their best at work or for a night on the town. In 2021, she’ll be closing down this segment of her company to dedicate herself fully to her fine art business, kaystratman.com.

With only 100 ties left in the collection, the holiday season of 2020 is the perfect time to buy one — and give one — of these handsome creations inspired by her husband and her Labrador, Waldo.

Finding Paw Prints

“It all began with a muddy paw print courtesy of my dog on my kitchen floor and a reluctance to wear ties by my husband Paul,” Kay explains. “Waldo was 105 pounds, so his were some mighty big paws.”

When she saw the print, Kay got to thinking that Paul might be keen to wear a tie to work if it had Waldo’s mark on it. So she traced the mark, made a stencil, bought a few silk ties, and got to work. The finished product was so impressive to Paul — and his colleagues — that he encouraged her to expand her repertoire.

The couple’s love for the outdoors inspired her to add leaves and other bits from nature to the designs, and Tie Tracks was born.

Kay’s tag line: “We hope you enjoy wearing your connection to the outdoors, even when you are indoors,” has inspired hundreds of men who might be reluctant to wear a tie to slip on one of hers.

Today, Kay continues to give back. “Now that so many people have lost their jobs during the pandemic,” she says, “It’s my pleasure to give one to any man in need of a tie for each one sold for $20.”

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