David Watkins (designer)

His artworks

Medals of London 2012 Olympics designed by Watkins

David Watkins is a British artist who has designed the medals for the London 2012 Olympics.[1] Watkins was also a special effects maker for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.[2]

Life

Watkins was born in Wolverhampton in 1940 and he is a graduate of the University of Reading (1963 Fine Arts) where he met his lifelong partner Wendy Ramshaw.[3]

Ramshaw is a Royal Designer for Industry and he has produced work for the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo.[4]

National Life Stories conducted an oral history interview (C960/74) with Watkins in 2006 for its Crafts Lives collection held by the British Library.[5] In 2009 Graham Hughes wrote a joint biography of Watkins and his wife and fellow designer Wendy Ramshaw.[6]

In 2010 a retrospective exhibition of his work was held at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, titled Artist in Jewellery, a Retrospective View (1972–2010).[7]

Selected publications

• David Watkins encounters. Barcelona: Sd-edicions-Hipòtesi joies, 2004. (With Barbara Cartlidge & Mònica Gaspar) ISBN 84-607-9243-9

Further reading

• David Watkins, Wendy Ramshaw: A Life’s Partnership[6]

References

1. London 2012: Olympic medals go into production in Wales. BBC News, 27 October 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
2. London 2012 Olympics: medal designs unveiled. The Telegraph, 27 October 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2011. Archive here.
3. "Great British jewellery designers: Wendy Ramshaw". www.thejewelleryeditor.com. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
4. Wolverhampton designer wins contract for Olympic medals. Express & Star, 28 July 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
5. Watkins, David (1 of 3) National Life Stories Collection: Crafts Lives, British Library Board: 2006. Retrieved 20 February 2018
6. Graham Hughes (2009). David Watkins, Wendy Ramshaw: A Life's Partnership. Starcity. ISBN 978-0-9526653-4-2.
7. Artist in Jewellery by David Watkins. Dezeen Magazine, 22 February 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2011. Archived here.

Further reading

• Chadour-Sampson, Beatriz. David Watkins, Artist in Jewellery. Stuttgart: Arnoldsche Art Publishers, 2008. ISBN 978-3-925369-96-4