Sources of Creative Inspiration
Interview with visual artist Weronika Marszelewska and musicologist Barbara Mielcarek, who received artistic scholarships awarded by Marshal Piotr Całbecki this year.
Weronika Marszelewska*
What inspires you?
For as long as I can remember, I have been most moved and inspired by nature — especially vast open spaces. As a child, traveling by car or train, I loved watching the moving horizon and the changing landscapes, and that has stayed with me. Although my works are static, I have gradually realized that this sense of movement and the link between perception and traveling are very important to me. There is something calling in the distance — you have to move from where you are to experience a change of perspective, a new view, another moment of wonder. That’s usually the first spark, but often many different inspirations overlap and permeate my work.
Wręczenie stypendiów artystycznych, fot. Mikołaj Kuras dla UMWKP
What artistic techniques do you use?
At first I worked with painting, but for my studies I chose printmaking with a specialization in artistic, workshop-based techniques — specifically relief printing. Since then I have mainly created miniature and experimental prints on paper. I most often use techniques such as linocut and monotype.
The project for which you received the scholarship involved a trip to Japan. Could you tell us more?
That’s right. During the trip I took part in the MI-LAB international artist residency in Echizen, Japan, which focuses on learning Japanese woodblock printing techniques. The residency, which lasted from September to mid-October, included classes with instructors as well as time for independent artistic work, and also one-day papermaking workshops (Echizen is a center of traditional washi paper production). The prints created during the residency were presented at an open studio event at the end of the program. Selected prints will remain in the organizer’s collection and will also be exhibited as part of a final exhibition summarizing the residency cycle (several residency sessions are held each year, with up to six artists from around the world participating in each).
Barbara Mielcarek-Krzyżanowska**
Who was Roman Padlewski, the subject of the podcast series you are creating thanks to the marshal’s artistic scholarship?
He was an extraordinary figure endowed with many talents — he worked as a composer, violinist, pianist, conductor, musicologist, critic, and music activist. Reviews, memoirs, and archived correspondence from his collaborators all confirm that he excelled in each of these fields. His ancestors fought in 19th-century uprisings and paid the highest price. Padlewski himself, perhaps trying to meet family expectations, completed the Volhynian Reserve Artillery Officer Cadet School. The experience he gained there proved crucial during the Warsaw Uprising. Sadly, he died on 26 August 1944, at not even 29 years old, as a result of his injuries.
Barbara Mielcarek-Krzyżanowska, fot. Mikołaj Kuras dla UMWKP
Why did you choose him?
The idea for the podcast series began when I discovered handwritten letters exchanged between Roman Padlewski and his parents. They contain a wealth of information about Polish musical life in the interwar period and during World War II. They also include detailed descriptions of encounters with figures associated with the culture of our region. Padlewski conducted ethnographic research near Vilnius together with Maria Znamierowska-Prüferowa, the patron of the Ethnographic Museum in Toruń. He met Feliks Nowowiejski (patron of the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz) and Karol Szymanowski, who, after Poland regained independence, lived in Bydgoszcz’s Bielawy district and completed works there, including the Słopiewnie song cycle. Padlewski also spent time in our region during the practical training required in his officer preparation.
I believe that this creator’s legacy should be restored to Polish culture and his ties to the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region highlighted.
* Weronika Marszelewska graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, majoring in graphic arts. Since 2022 she has been an assistant professor at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Siedlce. She creates small and intimate graphic works in relief printing techniques. She has taken part in around 70 group exhibitions in Poland and abroad and has held solo exhibitions in Poland.
** Barbara Mielcarek-Krzyżanowska is a musicologist and music theorist. She graduated from the Faculty of Composition and Theory of Music at the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, and from the Department of Musicology at the Faculty of History of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Since 2001 she has been affiliated with the Bydgoszcz Academy of Music. She participates in research projects of the Department of Music Theory and the Laboratory of Musical Culture of Kujawy and Pomorze. She cooperates with the Polish Music Publishers and Opera Nova in Bydgoszcz.
See also: Discover the Past, Listen to the Present
November 2025