Gretchen Treitz
Hollyhock with Sparrow, 2026
Watercolor and Goldleaf
15" x 15"
 
Artist Bio
Being immersed in the fine arts her entire life, Gretchen Treitz is an artist whose current work involves studying nature through watercolor. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, she credits her professors in New York City for her love and mastery of this aqueous medium. Treitz recently moved into the new St. Matthews Studios and Gallery on Lexington Road. 
By working with the Kentucky Division of Forestry, her latest series of works are of Kentucky's trees and flowers. Her versions of the Kentucky State and National Champion Trees embody the wonder, spirit, and past stories of these majestic trees. These paintings bring awareness to Kentucky's natural heritage and invite us to become better caretakers of our environment. Portions of her proceeds are donated to organizations that grow our local tree canopy, and to those that support our botanical ecosystem. 
Taking the images beyond reality, Treitz sometimes combines sterling silver leaf and white gold leaf with her watercolors. There is a certain contrast between the crispness of the metals leafs and the soft textures of the watercolor. Diagonals, asymmetry, and lack of perspective reflect her affinity with Japanese woodblock prints and the Kacho-ga genre (paintings of birds with trees and flowers in a flat, abstract composition.) 
Being a former Professor, Treitz maintains her love of teaching by being a Docent at the Speed Art Museum and KMAC. Her honors and awards include a Residency at the Edna St. Vincent Millay Colony for the Arts, a New York CAPS Watercolor Grant, and a Watercolor Teaching Fellowship at the Chautauqua Institute, New York. She is an Alumni of the Louisville Ballet Company. Treitz received her BFA from Stephens College in Missouri, and her MFA from Brooklyn College, City University of New York. Her artwork is in numerous museum, corporate, and private collections including the Brooklyn Museum in New York. She laughs "it's probably in the basement!" She was recently recognized as an "Artist Signature" Member of the Kentucky Watercolor Society, a title she cherishes, as she was rejected from one of their shows when she was sixteen!