Occasionally I ask our Artists in Residence to send us a little update on what they are up to in the world, and what became of the projects that were the focus of their residencies. A recent query is filling my mailbox with news, which I'll be sharing via this blog. Here's a couple that just came in…

Sara Gettys at the Larson Gallery

Good news! Here are a couple of pix of the piece I started at Centrum. My piece was accepted into the 54th Central Washington Artists' Exhibition at the Larson Gallery. The show opens on November 7 2009.

This piece is inspired by wood block printing, specifically the block used to create the prints. Much like creating a wood block to be used in printing, I carved a piece of plywood in relief to reveal the forms of dried plants that are found along the highways of the Yakima valley. First, I photographed the plants, then printed them to the scale of the piece — 4ft. by 1.5 ft.. After tracing them to a primed piece of birch plywood, I outlined them, then used spray paint to cover the surface. After that, it was a matter of following the outline and carving away the painted surface of the wood to reveal the plants. I hope to create a series of similar pieces, all celebrating local flora.

Judith Skillman's "Infanticide" in Pedestal Magazine

So far seven poems written at Centrum have been accepted for publication. “Infanticide,” appears in Issue 53 of Pedestal. Here's the introduction by guest editor Terri Brown, who compared me to Heather McHugh (wow!):
"Also fierce, rage-suffused, and undeniably brilliant is Judith Skillman, who offers us the horrors of her dark little vision, 'Infanticide.' Skillman's was the first truly brilliant poem I ran across on my poetic journey, and I was in awe of the sheer skill of her line breaks, movement, and control, as evidenced in this fantastic poem. Much like Heather McHugh, Skillman is a 'poet's poet,' and to read her work makes me rejoice, as poet, in the possibilities of the art itself." –
from The Pedestal Magazine, by Terri Brown-Davidson.

PS: you can see new work on my website   including a link to Pedestal Magazine. I have also got the interview w/ Jeremy Voigt up on the site.

Here's a link to Judith's newest book of poetry Prisoner of the Swifts published by Ahadada Books.