Gretchen Kish was born into a family of artists and writers in Ohio. where she spent her childhood largely outdoors in Akron, where her study and exploration of the natural world began in a system of parks that are now a National Park. She received her first state art award at age 6, a tempura painting of a large polar bear with the aurora borealis glowing against the black night sky. She went on to drawing, painting and sculpture while earning her bachelor of arts at Ohio State University, and continued her art training in post graduate courses at Art Students League of New York, UCLA, Rowayton Arts Center, Center for Contemporary Printmaking and Darien Center for the Arts in Connecticut.
Her work is shown and collected across the US and published in books, magazines, and catalogs internationally.