B REA T H ING MONT ANA
MONTANA GETZ IS A RODEO BARREL-RACER, HORSE TRAINER, AND PAINTER. THIS TEXT IS FROM A SHORT FILM BY MERRI LISA TRIGILIO
MERRI says: "I was drawn to Montana (Tana) Getz the first time I met her. A friend introduced me to her at a yoga class and what struck me about her was her passion and youth. She clearly honors her intuition — something I am just now coming to trust in my own life. Af- ter five years of coming to Montana during vacations, I cut ties to a 20- year career as a petroleum geologist and made the permanent move two years ago.
"MONTANA BECOMES THE DREAMSCAP E OF HER SOUL, A PL ACE TO BREATHE. "
"I am continually amazed at the people who inhabit my valley. It is a place for cattle ranchers, oil and gas men, conservationists, fly-fishers, hunters, rock-climbers, extreme skiers, mountaineers, outdoors folks of every type — all passion-seekers longing to connect with the idea of freedom that this expansive land- scape and its people embody.
"My photographic project strives to visually translate the idea of the physical landscape acting as a catalyst in our lives and our imagi- nation. Tana makes this a tangible reality in the way she navigates the natural contours of her world, the wheat fields, the ranch work, and her struggle to support herself."
MONTANA says: "My parents named me 'Montana', and 'Tana', for short. They used me like a wishing well. It was like, ok, we named our child Montana with the hope of making a move to Montana a tangible reality. "The horses are the main pas-
sion in my life and you can see that reflected in my art. Usually about once a year I will have an incredible dream about a Pegasus stud that comes across the field and somehow something happens and he saves me and I go flying away into the night sky and wake up and go, 'Wow'.
DISTINCTLY MONTANA Gal
FALL | 2012 7
