Altitude, oil paintings by Trish HardingBlue Horse Gallery
301 W. Holly Street
Bellingham, Wa. 98225
Fri. Sept. 4-25, 2009
Artist Reception, Fri. Sept. 4th, 6pm-10pm
Altitude, a landscape art show by Trish Harding that asks the viewer to take a visual journey from Bellingham, WA to Mazama, WA. This show is inspired by the life and death of the artist’s beloved son Ryan Triplett. Ryan was killed in a rock climbing accident at Goat Mountain on Sept. 7, 2008. Trish’s hope is to get the word out about this show to the climbing community throughout the Northwest, not just as a tribute to Ryan, but to bring climbers together and continue the dialogue of “risk” that rock climbing is all about.
(In fact,) as researchers are discovering, the psychology of risk involves far more than a simple "death wish." Studies now indicate that the inclination to take high risks may be hard-wired into the brain, intimately linked to arousal and pleasure mechanisms, and may offer such a thrill that it functions like an addiction. The tendency probably affects one in five people, mostly young males, and declines with age. It may ensure our survival, even sur our evolution as individuals and as a species. Risk taking probably bestowed a crucial evolutionary advantage, inciting the fighting and foraging of the hunter gatherer.
"We can do amazing things on occasion, like the times we climbed outside of ourselves, reaching stupendous heights way beyond our norm because we listened to some other voice in our heads or we had to in order to survive."
For more information about Ryan and the artist please see the attachments and the following links:
More info about Ryan:
Rock and Ice, issue 179/July 2009 Cliff Notes
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=672814
More about Trish and the Gallery:
Altitude: A Tribute to Ryan Triplett
AAI just received the following press release about a local Bellingham Artist and her show that was designed as a tribute to her son who was killed in a climbing accident:
