December at Gallery 10: "Strength of Our Wilderness", A Collection of New Paintings by Steve Holler

“I love being a painter ... I most enjoy capturing the many colors, textures, forms and play of light as they define the natural environment that surrounds us. Living and working in Northern California for most of my life, has introduced me to a natural beauty that has driven my desire to focus my work on the landscape as my primary subject. The coastline, valley and foothills provide an abundance of subjects that have become familiar images in my work. I enjoy painting in a representational style that provides the viewer with an intimate, emotional and personal experience of the painted subject.”

- Steve Holler

Steve Holler has enjoyed a successful career in design as an internationally recognized creative director and graphic designer working with some of the finest talent in the communication design profession. Now a full-time fine artist and educator, Steve’s design and fine art has been recognized in national and international competitions, exhibitions and publications. Recently Steve Holler’s painting has been featured in “Acrylicworks 6, The Best of Acrylic Painting”, published by North Light Books.

Steve Holler holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Kansas City Art Institute and a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the California College of the Arts. He has studied graphic design at the Yale University, School of Art.

Steve lives with his wife Jeannie in El Dorado Hills, California.

Gallery 10 will host a reception for Steve on Saturday, December 3, 2-5 P.M., 15 Eureka St., Sutter Creek. The show will hang all of December.  Gallery hours for December of Wednesday-Monday, 11-5.

December at Sutter Creek Gallery: Photography by Michael Maloney

Photographer Michael Maloney finds inspiration from a love of nature and art.  His landscape and wildlife photos reflect an ability to stay in the moment and be open to all possibilities.  At times his creations are traditionally matted and framed, while some are printed on aluminum surfaces. Maloney will be featured at Sutter Creek Gallery throughout the month of December with a reception in his honor on Saturday, December 3, from 2 to 5 p.m.

Maloney is self-taught in photography, beginning in the days of film and darkrooms.  However, he now uses the latest digital cameras and photo processing.  “I believe,” he says, “that printing itself is an art form and I take pride in the process.  A photo is not fully complete until it is in print form, a concept that is almost lost in this digital age.”  He spent nearly four decades in photojournalism, mostly with the San Francisco Chronicle, but is now retired and surrounded by nature in Amador County.  With his images, he hopes to encourage others to get out and explore the world with “a spirit of curiosity, astonishment, and hope.”

You are invited to see nature through Michael Maloney’s eyes and to visit with him on December 3 while enjoying refreshments.  He is one of 22 local artists exhibiting at the gallery located at 40 Main Street, Sutter Creek.  On display are original paintings of all types, photographs, prints and cards, jewelry, pottery and gourds.  Many items would make affordable gifts and these will be highlighted during the holiday season. Custom matting and framing services are also available.

For additional information, call 209-267-0228, email suttercreekgallery@gmail.com, or visit www.suttercreekgallery.com.

A Winter Crown

Caples Lake Milky Way

On Golden Wings

Wildfire Sunset

November at Sutter Creek Gallery: Sandra Campbell

 Sandra Campbell likes to try new things, which is a great advantage for an artist. Vibrant colors especially appeal to her as can be seen in her pastels and collages. She is the featured artist at Sutter Creek Gallery in November, with an opening reception on Saturday, November 5, from 2 to 5 p.m.

Campbell didn’t envision becoming an artist until much later in life. Like so many children, she enjoyed drawing, coloring and painting and, like too many children, she let it go by the wayside as she aged. In a college class Campbell discovered that she had some technical ability but still did not pursue it.

The desire to make art remained dormant until she retired and enrolled in a few classes in a variety of media. This led to a three-year stint studying pastel painting with master pastelist Thelma Davis of Placerville. She enjoyed the vivid colors and the control the sticks provided as opposed to working with brush and paint. Later, “I discovered collage which fired my imagination with the variety of papers to be used on any number of surfaces. And it can be combined with watercolor, acrylics, ink, pencils and all sorts of things to create mixed media pieces.”  Her subjects include landscapes, sea views, florals, still life and animals in both media.

The artist joined the gallery in 2013 and is active in the Amador County Artists Association.  Since the beginning of the year, she has taught a monthly class in collage under the auspices of the Amador County Arts Council.  Campbell is one of 20 local artists represented by Sutter Creek Gallery, located in the heart of Sutter Creek at 40 Main Street.  On display are original paintings of all types, photographs, prints and cards, jewelry, pottery and gourds.  Custom matting and framing services are also available.  For additional information, call 209-267-0228, email suttercreekgallery@gmail.com, or visit www.suttercreekgallery.com.

Vibrant Autumn

Along Ridge Road

Mountain Stream

Bird in Bamboo

Polish Chicken

October at Sutter Creek Gallery: Mary Sue Palmquist

Mary Sue Palmquist, the October featured artist at Sutter Creek Gallery, discovered a love of artistic expression in a high school art class with a daily lesson of portrait drawing.  In college, she majored in art, attending Ripon College and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design studying printmaking, graphic arts and typography, all before the advent of computers.  In 1983, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in art from Rockford College with an emphasis in watercolor.

Before Palmquist could follow her passion for art further, she took over managing the family business, an historic theater in Rockford, Illinois, used for performing arts performances, meanwhile taking evening classes in painting and calligraphy.  After 18 years she went on to pursue the study of art therapy in a master’s program which led to teaching art in an after-school program until she moved to California in 2005.

She then took up her paintbrushes and began studying watercolor under the tutelage of Sabina Turner, a local professional artist, as well as taking workshops and entering art shows and the local fair.  Palmquist is primarily a watercolorist but enjoys melding various mediums to create texture and bring abstraction into her work.  Lately, her favorite subjects are old buildings and old photographs.  “There’s so much story in them,” she says, “that I love to imagine the essence of what was going on.”

Palmquist is a member of the Sutter Creek Gallery, and is one of twenty artists represented by the gallery located at 40 Main Street in the heart of Sutter Creek,  open Thursday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  On display are original paintings of all types, photographs, prints and cards, jewelry, pottery and gourds.  Custom matting and framing services are also available.  For additional information, call 209-267-0228, email suttercreekgallery@gmail.com, or visit www.suttercreekgallery.com.

October at Gallery 10: Wendy Rogers

Wendy Rogers is an award-winning painter and blogger with work in private collections throughout the country. She paints in Fiddletown, at Fiddlesong Studio, her hideaway in a wild corner of Amador County.  Using careful drawings and a limited palette of transparent hues, she often enhances her watercolor paintings with layers of colored pencil.  Wendy loves crisply defining sepia lines that play against soft washes of glowing light, enhancing depth and adding a sense of mystery to her watercolor and acrylic paintings. Her love of the natural world that surrounds her and of animals, and birds, sparkles in her work.

Gallery 10 is delighted to offer Wendy’s collection of paintings for October. As Featured Artist, Wendy’s work will hang all of October at Gallery 10, 15 Eureka St., open Thursday-Monday, 11-5 P.M.

October at Sutter Creek Gallery: Abstract Artist Curtis Stromme

Abstract artist Curtis Stromme goes his own way when creating acrylic paintings:  The artworks are untitled, allowing viewers to provide their own interpretation and connection to the artwork.  Unmatted pieces are surrounded by simple chrome frames so as not to detract from the art, which makes the paintings seem “to go on into infinity,” he explains.  Rather than using canvas, Stomme paints on paper, layering the acrylic with blocks—not brushes—to create his vivid compositions.  Sutter Creek Gallery will feature this unique artist during the month of October.  

Despite occasional excursions into representational art, inspired by numerous trips to Portugal, Stromme realized quite early that creating acrylic abstract paintings was what brought him pleasure.  He starts with a background color, then applies additional paints that skid across the surface and sometimes collide with those added earlier.  The layers create a textural surface while metallic swirls, circles and lines add vivacity.  Stromme says that “knowing when to stop is the most difficult part of painting,” which many artists can agree with.  He also produces what he calls art trading cards.  These 2.5 x 3.5-inch abstracts are painted on mat board.  Some of these cards come mounted on paper and can be framed for display.  

Sutter Creek Gallery will host a reception in Stromme’s honor on Saturday, October 2, starting at 2 p.m., at 40 Main Street, Sutter Creek.  Besides original paintings and photography, the gallery offers many affordable items including prints, cards, jewelry, pottery, gourds and fiber arts as well as custom matting and framing.  The gallery is open Thursday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  For additional information, call 209-267-0228, email suttercreekgallery@gmail.com, or visit www.suttercreekgallery.com.

Teal & Red

Trading Card

September at Sutter Creek Gallery: Watercolor Artist Judy Day

Inspiration comes to watercolor artist Judy Day in any number of ways.  As she puts it, “I see a combination of colors, shapes or textures and they reach out and grab me.”  At times these “combinations” occur when she paints a landscape plein air.  At other times when she travels around the world.  Or a barn or flower near her home may provide the inspiration.  During September, Judy Day will be featured at Sutter Creek Gallery.

The artist loves learning new techniques and trying out various color combinations while painting daily, even if only for a few minutes.  Day tackles a variety of subjects, including florals—sunflowers are a favorite subject—birds and other animals, vineyard scenes and other landscapes.  She frequently paints water scenes, such as views along the Mokelumne River and at upcountry lakes.  She employs hues both subtle and vibrant, varying them to suit the subject matter.

While Day has tried other media, and occasionally creates using graphite, watercolor is her passion.  She likes “the way the pigments mix on the paper and flow from the tip of the brush.  I can play for hours with paper, paint and water.  Add some salt and a spray bottle and I’m set.”  Her favorite materials are Arches 300 lb. cold pressed paper and Daniel Smith paints.

Judy Day is one of twenty artists represented by the Sutter Creek Gallery located at 40 Main Street in the heart of Sutter Creek.  The business is open Thursday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  On display are original paintings of all types, photographs, prints and cards, jewelry, pottery and gourds.  Custom matting and framing services are also available.  For additional information, call 209-267-0228, email suttercreekgallery@gmail.com, or visit www.suttercreekgallery.com.

"Lupin"

"Sunflowers"

"Fall into Water"

"Superbloom on the Mokelumne"