recent publications :

Is Napa America’s Best Vacation Spot?

• Food and Wine Magazine, August 2009 (Link)

"Gretchen proved adept at helping Jessica see like a painter, teasing out nuances of color in the landscape (the sky wasn’t just blue, it was also lilac) and showing her how to frame what she was seeing (Gretchen supplied a cardboard viewfinder to help)."

--Benjamin Wallace

Best Mother's Day present: Give Mom Napa Valley

San Francisco Examener, May 2009 (Link)

"After the vineyards, restaurants, and produce stands, and long after Mom has drunk her fair share of wine, she’ll still want to drink in the natural beauty of the valley. Alla Prima Studio offers a perfect complement to the revelry of tasting and touring: a private, tranquil, outdoor painting retreat."

-- Laurie King

Artist Profile

• Napa Valley Life, April 2008

"Early last fall, under a sunny, cloudless sky, with good friends, good wine, and a warm-hearted painting instructor as talented as she was encouraging, I stood beneath a grove of trees with a palate in one hand, a paintbrush in the other, and gazed out across the gorgeous terraced hills of Quintessa Winery, plotting my very first painting."

--Michelle Williams, Director Arts Council Napa Valley

Gaining a new Perspective

• Napa/Sonoma Magazine Fall-Winter 2007

"What does it mean when students call you to say they've been mixing colors in their dreams?..."

-- Janelle Maciano, Diablo Press

Create your own art...

• Napa Valley Register, March 2007

"If you've ever had a yen to take an easel out doors and paint but don't know where to begin, Gretchen Kimball has the solution for you."

-- Sasha Paulsen, Features Editor