Sutherland’s ‘species on the edge’ come to life in stained-glass
An interview with artist Marta Sienkiewicz
Marta Sienkiewicz is a stained-glass artist living in north Sutherland. She has created a stunningly beautiful and evocative stained-glass panel depicting some of the north coast’s most vulnerable flora and fauna – or as we like to call them, our ‘species on the edge’.
The piece is on display in Strathnaver Museum, nestled in the alcove of a window. As the sun streams in, the wonderfully vivid, earthy colours are lit up and Marta’s creation is brought to life.
I met with Marta to learn about her artwork, her inspiration, and what she hopes people will take from the piece.
How did this project come about?
“I am a professionally trained artist, and I run workshops here in north Sutherland for people who would like to touch glass and see how glass artwork works and just to enjoy themselves. One of those people who came to my workshop was Sarah Bird, a Species on the Edge Project Officer here on the north coast, and this is how the project was born. Sarah Bird thought that through the artwork we could raise awareness of these species at the edge of extinction, but still clinging on here in north Sutherland.
I am an artist, not a botanist, but I love nature. Sarah and I went on several field trips so I could see these plants with my own eyes. I learnt so much about the plants; where they grow, how they grow, how they look in nature. This is what I tried to replicate in this work: how these plants appear in nature – in the top part of the panel – as well as a more scientific representation – shown along the bottom of the panel.
After visiting and observing these plants in real life, I knew so much how I wanted to paint them that those first pencil drawings on paper were what I used to be the templates for the painting. I didn’t go back to investigate them from books; they went straight from my real-life experience to the panel.
This project was only possible through the support of Fiona Mackenzie at Strathnaver Museum and Sarah Bird from Species on the Edge and funding from Strathnaver Museum, Museums Galleries Scotland, Highland Council and UKSPF. I am very proud of this work and happy that it is a permanent exhibit at Strathnaver Museum.”
Tell us about the process of making the piece.
“It’s a painted stained-glass panel, painted with enamel paint layer by layer. Some pieces of glass, like the primroses, have maybe 22 or 23 layers of paint. Each layer is fired in the kiln separately and then topped up layer by layer to enrich the colour.
I took inspiration from watercolour artist Shirley Poole whose paintings of local flora are here on display at Strathnaver museum. What was difficult was replicating how she wrote the species names; she used a hard fountain pen and I was using a soft brush.
For the background of the composition, I tied to capture the quintessence of the hills of north Sutherland. Some people see the sky and sea and a river in the background. I didn’t take any particular part of north Sutherland as inspiration; instead I created the feeling, the general atmosphere of the landscape and the place I love.
For the plants themselves, I wanted to show how you would find these different plants in the landscape. What really struck me when I saw them in real life was their different sizes. So I wanted to show them in proportion with one another. But I also wanted to show their structures close-up; this is what I tried to combine in this work, how it appears in nature and its specific details. So, along the bottom you can see the structures of the plants, and then in the main portion of the panel the plants are within their natural contexts.”
Why did you want to make this panel?
“I wanted to make this panel to raise awareness of the endangered species in the area that I live in and love, taking inspiration from the landscape and nature and the flora and the fauna of north Sutherland.
I think that combining science with art makes it more approachable for the public visiting the museum; maybe they can learn something, maybe they can understand a bit more about the ongoing fight to save these species from extinction.
Art is one of the few things that lasts through time, that is saved for future generations. Art by its intricacy makes people stop and think for a while. I think art touches our souls, not our minds directly. It goes deeper and, even if you don’t understand it, the impression of it might change your way of thinking or seeing the world. That’s why I thought that in this space, full of fascinating artefacts from history, this panel can draw our attention to plants that are a part of our history, but also a part of our present and our future. It can draw us to the here and now and the future and maybe even encourage a bit of transcendental thinking. Maybe the artwork would inspire people to Google the plants, or even inspire them to look for the plants in the real landscape and see what they look like in the meadows and on the shores of Sutherland.”
