BY KAREN BOSSICK

The Picket Fence is holding an Artist Trunk Show reception featuring the work of Sun Valley artist Gretchen Johnson from 3 to 5 p.m. today--Wednesday, Dec. 27.

The home furnishings and home décor shop, located near the Ketchum Grill at 560 East Ave. N. in Ketchum, is featuring Johnson’s work through Jan. 1.

Johnson’s oil painting portraits feature cherubic toddlers and puppies; her still-lifes, florals and landscapes include roadside hollyhocks, Silver Creek Preserve in spring and sheep wagons. They can be found in personal collections from coast to coast.

Johnson got her start when she took a painting class at the University of Washington as a 10-year-old. She painted for four decades near her home in Lake Oswego, Ore., while she pursued a career in interior design. Her French country sense of style earned her a place in multiple “Better Home and Garden” and “French Country Style” publications.

She now lives in Sun Valley where, inspired by the abundance of nature, she has taken up plein air painting and begun painting large format wildlife oils depicting everything from “The Noble Frog” to sheep trotting down the center line of the highway, “Moose on the Move” and the Sheepdog Trials of the Trailing of the Sheep Festival.

“She is a great artist who does a beautiful job of capturing everything in the Wood River Valley,” said an admiring Cory Boydston.