If you’ve ever spent your morning commute daydreaming about starting afresh with your career, this feature is for you. Each Monday, we speak to someone from a different profession to discover what it’s really like. This week we chat to royal sculptor Frances Petchey, who is currently exhibiting at The Garrison Chapel with Icons In Sculpture…
A bust of someone starts from around £40,000… depending on the size and complexity. I usually allow for three sittings, and the process takes around four months from start to finish. Fees can be upwards of £60,000 depending on the size and complexity of the work. I’ve been fortunate to receive commissions from exceptionally wealthy individuals overseas who wanted sculptures of their husbands or wives as special gifts, often for birthdays or anniversaries. These projects sometimes involve international travel, and naturally, that increases the overall cost.
So, a typical salary in my role as a sculptor isn’t really fixed… Most of my income comes through commissions rather than a set wage. The majority of my work is done on behalf of charities to help raise funds for them, which, of course, I don’t charge for, but I also take on private commissions.
On average, I do two full days sculpting… normally in my studio at home, and a further two days on sketches, admin and future events. This means I take holidays around my events, which are normally planned a year in advance.
The very first sculpture I created was of… my late father playing the violin, around 45 years ago. My late husband Sir Jack Petchey happened to be involved with the London Youth charity. The Duke of Edinburgh was their patron, and when I showed some of my early work to the charity, they suggested it might be a wonderful idea to ask him to sit for me. To my delight, he agreed, and that led to my very first visit to the palace in an informal setting. It was an extraordinary experience, and it marked the beginning of my journey as a royal sculptor.
All members of the Royal Family have been… utterly charming, welcoming, and a true pleasure to sculpt.
If I had to choose a favourite, it would most definitely be… Her Late Majesty The Queen. She was a remarkable role model for me until her passing, an incredible inspiration both personally and professionally. She had such a wonderful presence, the ability to make you feel instantly at ease, and she was exactly as you would hope and expect our Queen to be.
Each time I’ve driven into the Buckingham Palace courtyard… I’ve been struck by the extraordinary formality and warmth of the welcome. The staff, dressed in tails, greet you and help carry in your art materials before leading you to a private room where the sittings take place. There are always special markings on the floor, guides to show exactly where a dress or robe would fall. It’s a small but crucial detail, as getting that wrong could potentially be a disaster for the sculpture. And before the sitting begins, you’re always offered a cup of tea and a moment to relax and compose yourself; it’s a wonderfully thoughtful touch before meeting a member of the Royal Family.
The most challenging part of sculpting is… capturing the precise proportions of the face, which requires meticulous measuring with callipers. One of the trickiest areas is the distance from the chin to the ear; it’s surprisingly difficult to get exactly right. If that measurement is even slightly off, the likeness just doesn’t work, so it demands absolute concentration and perfection.
There’s no time to worry about correcting imperfections… when I do live two-hour sculptures, I have the visualisation in my head constantly, and every piece of clay I add has to be right in that moment. I never alter the face once I return to the studio, because that immediacy is what captures the sitter’s true likeness. I may tweak the hair afterwards, as that’s far easier, but the essence of the face is always created live and left exactly as it was.
The people who sit for me are usually very established individuals who have already achieved incredible things in their lives… As a result, they don’t often come with insecurities, because they understand they are there to provide an artist’s impression rather than a photographic likeness. That said, I always make a point of spending time with them beforehand, having a cup of tea, talking, and letting them relax. When someone feels comfortable, their personality naturally comes through in their posture and expression, and that’s what makes for a really strong sitting.
I’ve created around 500 sculptures, and about 250 of those are busts… It’s always the Queen who stands out for me; it was such a wonderful experience to spend that time with her. Being self-taught, I never imagined I would have the opportunity for that kind of one-to-one sitting. At her first sitting, my husband asked if the Queen knew I had previously sculpted her husband. I wasn’t sure, so on my next visit, he suggested I take along a photo of the sculpture I had done of him. She didn’t know, and when I showed her, she said she would make her way down to see it. I found her very personable, warm, and genuinely interested.
The biggest mistake I’ve made was… while appearing on The One Show. I was sculpting on a trestle table, and just moments before we were due to go live, the table collapsed with everything on it. If I had panicked, it could have been a disaster, but with the help of the crew, we quickly and calmly put everything back together, and the viewers never knew. That experience taught me that during a live sitting, anything can happen, but staying composed is key. I also learned a practical lesson: perhaps I should never sculpt on a trestle table again!
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For events, I usually do live sculptures that take around two hours… most recently, I did one of Dame Judi Dench for her 90th birthday, and just this week Ray Winstone. Of course, after the live session, I go home and refine the work further.
Some sculptures are done from photographs… for example, I created one of Billy Bremner from a photo, and I’ll be doing Sir Christopher Wren the same way. When a sculpture isn’t live, depending on the timeframe and level of detail required, it can take months to complete.
I would never want to criticise another artist’s work, as I fully appreciate the time and effort that goes into creating a piece but… I find it difficult to connect with sculptures that have perhaps commanded astonishing sums of money, yet leave you completely unsure of what the piece is meant to represent. That’s when, personally, I tend to struggle with work.
AI means you can now… scan a person and use that for sculpture work, which is actually an amazing development. But it will never have the character and presence that comes from creating a piece in person or live. It does make the process easier for artists, which I think is a good thing, but it can also be very expensive.
The one thing I hate about my job is… the mess I make! I’m naturally a tidy person, but with my work, clay really gets everywhere. Once it dries, it’s not easy to remove, so I have to be careful around white furniture, my clothes, and even my hair. My fingernails are particularly tricky to keep clean!
