Tales of dandelions and mystical fairies
Talented sculptor’s business is a runaway success
VISITORS to the Trentham Estate have been enchanted by its beautiful fairies for years. The captivating wire sculptures are dotted around the lake, woodland and gardens for visitors to spot.
The man behind the sculptures, Robin Wight, was inspired to create his first fairy by a mystical encounter in the woods near his Staffordshire Moorlands home. More than a decade on, his art has become a thriving business - Fantasywire - that employs his whole family.
Although he had been a keen artist since his schooldays, it was Robin’s successful career as an industrial software designer that lead him to move his family from Kingsley Holt to an idyllic property in Oakamoor. While trying out a new camera he was given for Christmas in 2009, a photograph of light streaming through the trees in the surrounding woods revealed what looked like a reallife fairy.
His interest in 3D sculpture had been sparked some years before, while building elaborate sand sculptures to amuse his children during family holidays at Blackrock Sands. He moved on to creating wooden sculptures, but felt the unforgiving medium was wrong for the more delicate work he really wanted to do.
In 2010, Robin was mending a fence when he was struck by the idea of sculpting with wire. The 61-year-old said: “I was screwing up some old wire to throw away when I had the thought that it was quite strong but also malleable.
“I started messing around with some fencing wire. Because we live surrounded by woodland, a fairy for the bottom of the garden seemed a good subject to start with. I started selling a few locally and, in 2012, we created a fairy trail in the woods for the village festival.
“It was really popular and that proved to be a turning point. The trail was noticed by Amanda Dawson from Trentham Gardens and I had an email from them to say they loved the fairies.
“They came to have a look and bought eight.”
Probably the most famous of Trentham’s fairies is Wishes, which Robin created to commemorate Trentham Gardens 10th anniversary.
It was in 2014 that a photograph of Wishes shared on social media went viral. Robin, who is married to Ann, said: “It was crazy. Before that I had 4,000 followers on Facebook, which I was really proud of. But then this kicked off and 24 hours later I had 72,000. I was getting lots of inquiries and had a waiting list of people wanting fairies.”
Such was the demand, they started to fetch sums he could not have imagined. In the wake of Wishes’ popularity, Fantasywire also started to get requests for dandelion sculptures. This developed into a separate arm of the business headed by Robin’s daughter Amy.
Now the company has expanded to offer DIY kits which allow people to create their own eight-inch or 16-inch wire fairy, as well as prints and greeting cards featuring photographs captured by Robin.
The merchandise side of the business is looked after by Robin’s son Adam. Robin has enjoyed a partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society, which has seen Fantasywire exhibit at RHS events.
Last year at the Chelsea flower Show, the team displayed several fairies and giant dandelions to decorate the entrance to chef Raymond Blanc’s Jardin Blanc, featuring on the BBC.
Other TV coverage includes an appearance on the BBC’S Escape to the Country in February 2021. Beyond Ithaka, a mother nature figure made up of thousands of metres of stainless steel wire, was commissioned in honour of NHS Organ Donation and unveiled in March to families of organ donors, including three from North Staffordshire.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing though. Last year Fantasywire started being targeted by scammers using images of its fairies to advertise fraudulent products. His experiences made it onto the BBC programme Ripoff-britain and it continues to be a problem today.
However, this cannot detract from the remarkable success story that stemmed from a simple piece of discarded fence wire. Robin said: “I do take what I do very seriously and feel a responsibility to keep increasing the standard of my art.
“When I project into the future, I need to take this to somewhere that will continue after I stop making fairies. What I would love to create is a version of my sculpture Dancing with Dandelions that stands over a hundred feet tall, on a British hill