Amador County Artists Association: Sutter Creek Gallery's September Artist features Michael Maloney

After a distinguished 37-year career as a photojournalist, most of which was with the San Francisco Chronicle, Michael Maloney is now retired and living on 12 acres of land in the nearby community of Volcano. Since the fast-paced, always-a-deadline world of news and sports photography is behind him, Maloney is enjoying the slower tempo of the Sierra foothills where he is focused on his passion, using his camera to capture all the beauty he sees in nature.

Maloney is self-taught in photography, starting back in the days of film and darkrooms to his current use of the latest in digital cameras and photo processing. His first love was landscape photography which took a back seat when he landed a job in 1973 as a staff photographer at a small newspaper in the San Francisco Bay Area. His striking images eventually attracted the attention of the Chronicle which offered him a staff position in 1980. While there, Maloney embarked on a wide variety of assignments which took him literally around the world. Sports photography is what he enjoyed the most, covering many Super Bowls, the World Series, World Cup soccer and the Olympics. In 2009 he retired and has now returned to landscape photography.

Many of Maloney’s scenes are suffused with inky blues set off by vibrant pinks and oranges. Some feature the rising moon or the Milky Way, as in “Bonsai Moonrise” and “The Arch and the Milky Way.” Photographing the natural world has taken Maloney to the top of mountain peaks and down to the seashore. He’s recorded animal images both around his home and farther afield, such as the dramatic “Coyote Eyes” taken in Yosemite. Deer and turkeys, which flourish in this area, are captured in other shots.

Sutter Creek Gallery invites you to meet Michael Maloney at his reception on Saturday, September 1, starting at 2 p.m., and to view his unique photography. Twenty-five artists exhibit at the cooperative located in the heart of Sutter Creek at 35 Main Street. Besides, Maloney’s photographs, the gallery offers original paintings, fiber and glass art, gourds, ceramics, prints and cards. Framing is also available. The gallery is open Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For additional information, call 209-267-0228, email suttercreekgallery@gmail.com, or visit www.suttercreekgallery.com.