Gretchen R.R. Eppling explores landscape and sky through painting and drawing, experimenting with unusual techniques and materials such as crushed glass, sand, and salt. Her smaller works include pen-and-ink drawings and pastels depicting birds, moths, and other natural subjects.
The second of three children, Gretchen R.R. Eppling grew up in a household where art was central to everyday life. Her parents, Charles and Vera Reinike, were artists and teachers who founded Reinike Gallery in 1930. Their summer art camp in St. Francisville, LA, gave her an early opportunity to explore her artistic interests outdoors and to watch her parents teach their students in the same Louisiana woods that had inspired John James Audubon during his travels in the region.
Eppling studied art at Barat College in Lake Forest, IL, Newcomb College in New Orleans, and The Boston Museum School. Over a career spanning more than five decades, she has exhibited at Baton Rouge Gallery and Broussard Memorial Gallery in Louisiana, Keane-Mason Gallery in New York, and Reinike Gallery.
For many years, Eppling taught art to children, developing school art programs for children with special needs and migrant children, and leading workshops at the Louisiana Children's Museum. She retired from teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic but continues to paint and exhibit at Reinike Gallery.
