The Iron Fairies were created by West Australian artist and designer Ashley Sutton. He once worked deep in a mine and “longed to escape the monotony, tedium and gloom, so I created this fairy tale in my mind to help set my spirit free”. The range includes enchanting cast iron statues and a series of three books.
“Many years ago, as children played in a secret garden in the remote outback of Western Australia, they stumbled across three little rusty books, no bigger than a matchbox in size. All had solid iron covers and were said to be found whilst the children climbed on an old gum tree.”
Inside were drawings and stories of an underground world of hidden tunnels full of grumpy little old miners who have been living in a world of darkness for hundreds of years. Using a precious red ore, the miners created an exquisite range of little iron fairies to represent areas of the garden above. Fairies with a green tone are well behaved, however if the ore mixture wasn’t quite right a blue fairy was made – they have been known to be cheeky and wreak havoc down in the mines! Once a fairy was made she was wrapped in cloth and taken to the gardens under the cover of darkness where she awaited the sun to rise the next morning and set her free.
Followers of My Little Fairy Garden may recognise these fairies from images of Miss C’s fairy garden. These were the first fairies to arrive in her garden almost four years ago. They have developed a lovely rustic charm over time and have proven extremely durable against rough toddler play in those earlier years. Although fairy legend suggests iron is a fairy repellant, I can assure you that we have had many wonderful fairy visits to our garden. I have seen these fairies in gardens, but also as decorative items in a home. Even indoors, they will develop a lovely rust.
Each fairy, made of iron, comes with magical dust and a poem describing her personality. She was made deep beneath the garden’s grounds and wrapped in cloth so has never seen sunlight. Follow the enclosed instructions to set your fairy free.
If you’d like to learn more about the miners, including how and why they create the fairies, you can read their story in The Iron Fairies Trilogy. The three books are journal entries written by one of the grumpy old miners. The pages contain detailed sketches of the machines used by them and describes their miserable daily lives underground. It tells of the discovery of a gold rock and how it could finally bring happiness to the miners. Originally the books and fairies were created to coincide with an online game, but sadly it appears the game is no longer available. However, the books alone are an intriguing story.
Currently we have 12 of the well behaved ‘green’ Iron Fairies from the range, plus all three volumes of the book available to purchase online now.
For fairy news and specials!
Fairy Garden Miniatures WA Australia | Cicely Mary Barker Flower Fairies | Gypsy Garden Collection | Merriment Collection | Iron Fairies
© Copyright 2012-2024 My Little Fairy Garden ABN: 27 249 235 413. All Rights Reserved. Prices include GST.
For fairy news and specials!
Fairy Garden Miniatures WA Australia | Cicely Mary Barker Flower Fairies | Gypsy Garden Collection | Merriment Collection | Iron Fairies
© Copyright 2012-2021 My Little Fairy Garden ABN: 27 249 235 413. All Rights Reserved. Prices include GST.
