Naomi Davies | Jewellery | Devon
Homage to Dartington Donkey
The public have spoken… the winner of the People’s Choice Award for 2026 is Naomi Davies!
The Dartington Donkey is a much-loved sculpture that is situated near the top of Dartington Gardens created by Willi Soukop. It has been a focal point for Dartington visitors, including Naomi's family through the generations. Indeed, it has its own Facebook page.
Her father, Thomas Nathaniel Davies, an artist, used to take her and her brothers and sister to see art exhibitions at Dartington from her birth and she has photographs of them, and now her own children, playing and posing on the donkey.
Two years ago, on a visit to Dartington she was inspired to create a homage to the donkey for her own personal expression and to initially interpret it as a piece of jewellery as an experiment in scale.
Out of curiosity, a 3D print was made using photographs as a reference to make a cast but was rejected as technology and art did not pair well; it simply lacked the essence of its character. Naomi pursued her own hand- crafted version, which began as a wax carving. One cast was made in silver which was worked on directly adding more detail. As the project developed, she wanted to make a statement about the preciousness and vulnerability of our local heritage, hence the museum-like case which was created in which to exhibit the donkey.
Through the changes and challenges our local creative community faces, the donkey still remains standing and resolute and the innocent joy and affection it inspires in passersby, especially children, is captured in her tribute, protected in its own museum-like case.
Naomi has over 30 years experience in making and teaching jewellery. She works primarily in silver and gold, but also can set precious stones, and has enjoyed techniques to inlay marble, acrylic and leather. Her work is precise and finished to a high quality.
Some of her work has been inspired by the beauty of stringed musical instruments and popular music cultures. Her jewellery has a sense of a classy timeless, but edgy aesthetic, often being inspired by geometric mid century modernist design from the 40’s through to the 70’s.
She prides herself on meticulous use of soldering in her fabrications. More recently she has started experimenting more in sculptural and 3-dimensional forms. Having sculpted skulls and rose thorns in the last few years, she has begun to use the casting process to develop her designs further, always with elegance at the core of her aesthetic.
She runs private workshops from her garden workshop and is available for commissions.