Trace Glau was born and raised in Prescott. She spent her youth climbing granite boulders and ponderosa pines, lounging in the shade at the Courthouse Square, and enjoying family and friends. In her early 20’s, she moved to Sedona and began to be inspired by nature in a different way and this began her quest in art in the early 1990’s. By 1996 she had enrolled at Arizona State University where she began her academic career in art. She moved back to the mountains of Northern Arizona, in 1998, needing nature and hiking grounds and attends NAU in Flagstaff. She received her Bachelors of Fine Arts degree with a studio emphasis in Printmaking and Metal working in the spring of 2002. She continues to attend NAU taking art education and studio art classes. Her main inspiration is nature, trees, and swirling, knotted wood. One of her main artist influences is her Grandmother, Frances Fields.