HISTORY

I was born in 1975, in Napa Valley—a place where lifestyle intertwines deeply with the landscape, nature and its rhythms. Raised on Montessori principles, I learned early that art and creativity isn’t just something you do; it’s something you live.

With California as my beginning, my life's journeys have taken me on endless adventures from the cobbled streets of San Miguel de Allende Mexico, to the origins of Art history’s in Florence Italy, to the exclusive Art Academies of Copenhagen Denmark and the bustling intellectual creative hubs of Boston. Returning to the bay area in 2003, I completed my academic chapters at the San Francisco Art Institute. Every city, culture, brushstroke and adventure added layers to the understanding of my craft. I returned to the Napa Valley in 2005, with a BFA in Painting, the nostalgia of my travels and nature, my muse.

I founded Alla Prima Studio in 2006, teaching plein air painting in vineyards and on oak-draped hilltops. It wasn’t long before I realized that my heart beat not just for canvases, but for gardens—those ever-changing landscapes that whisper secrets of inspiration with every season. By the fall of 2009, after a deep dive into Landscape Architecture courses at Berkeley Extension, I found myself at The Napa Valley Reserve, where I wasn’t just a gardener—I was painting with nature. Working alongside culinary visionary Ches from The Restaurant at Meadowood, I helped transform the garden into a living stage for flavors, a collaboration that would eventually help secure a third Michelin Star. Every day there was a masterclass in art, nature and alchemy. And the Meadowood and Charter Oak gardens are still thriving to this day.

Since 2013, I’ve taken my passion global, working independently on projects that span continents. I’ve sculpted intimate kitchen gardens in Napa, designed and renovated several homes expanding my vision into architecture, worked with commercial developers collaborating with Restoration Hardware on projects in San Francisco, Marin, Dallas, New York, Paris, and even in charming corners of Oxfordshire in the UK. More recently, my work has flourished in the sun-drenched vistas of Ibiza, where I’ve transformed private residences and contributed to world class locations such as, Casa Maca, Sa’ Capella and Juntos Farm Shop.

I’ve had the honor of my work being celebrated in press outlets from the San Francisco Chronicle’s Home and Garden to Haute Living and Food and Wine, each feature a nod to my belief that a landscape is more than soil and plants—it’s a narrative, a seasonal symphony, and a bold declaration of art in the open air.

Whether I’m collaborating on a culinary garden at The Napa Valley Reserve, managing expansive projects with RH Build, or simply capturing atmosphere and light in painting sketches of the countryside, I approach each project with reverence, and awe for nature's power and a deep discipline for the creative process.

I’m Gretchen Kimball—an artist, designer, gardener and traveler who believes that every project and location is a story waiting to be told, a canvas that evolves with the rhythm of the seasons, and a living work of art that invites you to step in and savor every vibrant detail.

Currently my creativity and adventures continue as a lifestyle, I reside seasonally in my established homes of Napa Valley, San Miguel de Allende Mexico and Ibiza Spain.