What is a bespoke garden sculpture?
A bespoke garden sculpture is a one of a kind piece made to order for a particular setting, rather than bought ready made from a range. Donna Harvey-Bailye makes hers in steel, building each form from hundreds of leaves cut and shaped by hand, then set into an openwork frame one at a time. Because every commission is drawn for its own place, no two are ever the same.
A piece might be a rounded sphere, a falling seed form or a tall twisting column, sized for a small courtyard or a grand public garden. The result is a sculpture that belongs to its setting as much as to the person who commissioned it, catching the light and the seasons and gathering meaning over the years it stands. Prices begin at £1,600 plus VAT.
How much does a bespoke garden sculpture cost?
A bespoke garden sculpture from Donna Harvey-Bailye starts at £1,600 plus VAT. The final figure depends on three things: the size of the piece, the finish you choose, and the complexity of the form. A smaller sphere for a private garden sits near the start of that range, while a tall column or a large piece for a courtyard, a hotel or a public space costs more.
Every price includes the design conversation, in which Donna works with you to shape something for your own setting, and the making itself, one leaf at a time. Because each sculpture is made to order rather than mass produced, you are paying for an original work that no one else will own, built to stand outdoors through the seasons. Donna gives a clear guide once she understands the setting and the scale you have in mind.
What are the sculptures made from, and how are they finished?
Each sculpture is made from steel, cut leaf by leaf by hand and worked so the veins and edges catch the light. The finish is chosen to suit the place the piece will stand. It can be left to weather to a soft, living patina that shifts through the seasons, or taken toward warm copper, rich colour or bright plating. There is no fixed palette, only what sits well with your planting, your stone and your light.
Every form is pierced right through, so light becomes part of the work. By day the sun lays the pattern of the leaves across the grass, and after dark a lamp set low within turns the sculpture into a lantern. Steel stands up to the British weather, so the piece is made to live outdoors for years with little more than the changing patina to tend.
Where do garden sculptures like these work best?
These sculptures are made for gardens and interiors alike. In a garden, a single piece gives a lawn, a border or a courtyard a still point to gather around, holding its presence right through winter when the beds die back. They sit beautifully in pairs and groups too, like fruit fallen from a tree. Indoors, a smaller piece brings the same quiet presence to a hallway, a reception or a stairwell.
At the larger end, a sculpture can be drawn as a landmark for a hotel foyer, a corporate courtyard or a public garden, sized with no upper limit. Because each one is made to commission, the scale and finish are matched to the setting from the start, so the piece looks as though it has always belonged there.
How do you commission a garden sculpture from Donna Harvey-Bailye?
Every commission begins as a conversation. You tell Donna about your setting, the scale you have in mind and the finish you like, and she designs a sculpture to suit. From there she draws the form, agrees it with you, and makes it by hand in her Staffordshire workshop, building it leaf by leaf. A commission is made to order and no two are ever the same, so the piece is yours alone.
Donna works with private clients across the UK, as well as with garden designers, landscape architects and interior designers commissioning on behalf of their own clients. To begin, describe the setting and the scale, and Donna will reply personally to talk it through. Prices start at £1,600 plus VAT.
The collection: Gravity and Grace
