Arts Directory

About

Artist Bio

Tracie has been teaching Origami for 25 years in WNC and SC. She has taught over 175 residences and continues to make this art fun and exciting for all involved. She is known as the Origami Lady and lives in NC with her husband and three children. She taught origami to herself using diagrams from books, online, and practice to perfect techniques. She teaches students the basic folds, bases, and symbols using diagrams and visually folding models along with them. She includes Japanese culture as well. Tracie sets up a display table with origami books, models, papers, etc. so students can see more exciting things. She brings children’s books she has made models for and reads them to the class. She chooses students to come up and hold the models to act out the story. It is a very fun and engaging week that leaves students with a new and lasting passion for an ancient art form.

Artist Statement

For me art can be intimidating for some students. Origami is perfect for those left- brained, linear, visual learners. There are diagrams with symbols to follow step by step along with the actual steps being folded in front of them. For the creative, right-brained students, origami can have an open-ended approach. They can follow the diagram and then add their own personal flare with added folds. I enjoy having a theme for the day, which uses related models either by subject, for example; sports, fruit, season, camping, ocean, etc. Or by models that begin the same way and then end up totally different. They can begin with the same pre-creases, basic folds, bases, beginning shapes, etc.

I intend for students to be successful. I am there to make that happen in a fun, memorable way. I unfold the models back to the beginning and have students tell me the steps to refold them. I use stories to fold models with each step being part of the story. I try to think of ways to help them remember the steps to fold models later. They can choose the own color of squares, or some models everyone has the same. This helps students see differences in the same models folded by everyone. Origami is a transformative art form. You have a square, or other shape, you don’t add to it or take away from it. You transform it through folding.