Episode 97: The Art of Jewelry Design with Geoffrey Good

Geoffrey Good is a renowned fine jewelry designer based in Hudson, New York, internationally recognized for his elegant, minimalist designs. With over 30 years of experience in the industry, he has established himself as a master craftsman and artist, known for his attention to detail and exceptional skill in creating exquisite pieces of jewelry. Geoffrey discovered his passion for jewelry in college after designing a pair of earrings for his girlfriend out of glass-scrap. After earning a degree in jewelry design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, Geoffrey apprenticed with master jeweler Klaus Wisskirchen, assisting in jewelry-works for prestigious firms, including Cartier© and Christie’s© before starting his own atelier. His work has been featured in Vogue, The New York Times, and dozens of other renowned publications. 

For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to continually explore your craft by drawing, writing, experimenting, and recording your inspirations on a regular basis

Credits: The Syncreate podcast is created and hosted by Melinda Rothouse, and produced at Record ATX studios with in collaboration Michael Osborne and 14th Street Studios in Austin, Texas. Syncreate logo design by Dreux Carpenter.

If you enjoy this episode and want to learn more about the creative process, you might also like our conversations in Episode 52: Texas Poet Laureate Amanda Johnston, Episode 56: Asking the Questions with Broadway Stereophonic Cast Member Chris Stack, and Episode 68: Wonders of Creation with Dr. Ladan Akbarnia.

At Syncreate, we're here to support your creative endeavors. If you have an idea for a project or a new venture, and you’re not sure how to get it off the ground, find us at syncreate.org. Our book, also called Syncreate, walks you through the stages of the creative process so you can take action on your creative goals. We also offer resources, creative process tools, and coaching, including a monthly creativity coaching group, to help you bring your work to the world. You can find more information on our website, where you can also find all of our podcast episodes. Find and connect with us on social media and YouTube under Syncreate. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave us a review! We’d love to hear your feedback as well, so drop us a line at info@syncreate.org. 

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Transcript

Melinda: Creativity and community are absolutely vital in challenging times. Welcome to Syncreate, a show where we explore the intersections between creativity, psychology and spirituality. We believe everyone has the capacity to create. Our goal is to demystify the process and expand the boundaries of what it means to be creative. We talk with visionaries and change makers, and everyday creatives working in a wide range of fields and media - from the arts to science, technology and business.

We aim to illuminate the creative process from imagination to innovation and everything in between. I'm Melinda Rothouse and I help individuals and organizations bring their dreams and visions to life. At Syncreate, we’re here to support your creative endeavors. So, if you have an idea for a project or a new venture, and you're not quite sure how to get it off the ground, find us at syncreate.org. 

Our book, also called Syncreate, walks you through the stages of the creative process so you can take action on your goals. We also offer resources, creative process tools and coaching to help you bring your work to the world, including both one-on-one coaching and a monthly creativity coaching group that meets the fourth Sunday of each month. 

So, check out the website for more details. We'd love to hear from you! Hear your feedback on the show, ideas for topics you'd like us to cover, or guests you'd like us to invite. So, drop us a line any time at info@syncreate.org. 

My guest today is Geoffrey Good. He's a high-end jewelry designer, private jeweler, and industry consultant with a minimalist aesthetic. He runs in atelier in Hudson, New York, with a workshop in New York City. He's a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology and has worked with Cartier, Christie's, Sotheby's, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and many others. He's been featured in The New York Times, Vogue, and dozens of other publications over the years. So welcome, Geoffrey. It's wonderful to have you on the podcast today. 

Geoffrey: Thank you. It's an honor to be here. 

Melinda: Yeah. And so, we connected through Charlotte Gullick, my Syncreate business partner, and she does some of the episodes with me. And she, I guess, met you recently at your atelier and thought you'd be a wonderful guest. 

Geoffrey: I'm happy, happy to help. 

Melinda: Yeah. So, you have spent your career designing kind of custom and bespoke jewelry, and I was, you know, browsing through your gallery on your website. Your work is really beautiful and unique, and kind of minimalist. And so, I'm curious just to kind of, like, dive right in - I'm sure will tease apart other threads as we go along - but at this point in your career, you're quite well established at this point. You've been doing it for quite a while. I'm curious, what kinds of projects and commissions most excite you creatively? 

Geoffrey: Yeah, I would say at this point, you know, I made jewelry personally for about 25 years, at a higher high level. And then had spent the past five years or so only designing and not making. But I think mostly now it's sort of having the freedom to sort of go into some slightly different directions with clients, to test new techniques, explore new ideas, things like that, are kind of where it becomes more exciting. 

That in combination with, you know, it's really very dependent on the clients as well for me. And it's, you know, the more excited they are, the more excited I am, I guess. Would be a way to, to put it. So that's my - yeah, it's very broad right now. We're doing, you know, it's hard to sort of narrow down. We're going on a lot of - I'm going in a lot of different directions right now creatively. So, there are a lot of different projects, you know, happening. Some of those are just personal projects. Some of those are things just for the store here. Some, you know, a lot of them are for private clients, for other people. So definitely no shortage of things to be excited about. 

Melinda: Yeah. Awesome. So, I'm curious, like when someone comes to you, and either whether they have a piece of jewelry that they want to rework or redesign, or just something brand new, how do you collaborate with clients and kind of where do you draw inspiration? 

Geoffrey: Well, a lot of clients will come - the way we're set up is we have, we call it the atelier, but it's essentially a retail workshop, that's in the front of the space. But it's not in the way that you would think of a traditional jewelry store. So, a lot of people come in and they're attracted by “Oh, let's see what this is.” And they come in and I feel it's very critical that they sort of see my things in context. That context being, you know, the way I choose to present them, I guess. 

So, a lot of people will come in and it kind of, even though as you said, my work is minimalist, it's also not what people are used to seeing. Not mainstream. So, a lot of times it takes people a little bit of time to kind of wrap their minds around it. And probably the most common thing, sort of surprise that I get from people is, “Oh, so you can make me something.” You know, so people really love that idea of, I think, being able to participate in that whole collaborative process. So, that's kind of how it starts. A lot of times somebody will come in and then a couple weeks later, I'll get an email because they've been thinking about it. 

“Oh, I want to do this or that…” or “We were there talking, you know, and I saw this thing.” A lot of times people have heirloom pieces. You know, that they have been sort of hoarding, you know, (laughter) in a safety deposit box somewhere, and they see my aesthetic, and something registers with them, and they realize that I can create for them. And then we can kind of do it together. You know, my forte, I think, with working with clients is that it's pretty - I'm always sort of hellbent on getting to what's important for them, you know. Really trying to find something - I can't really resonate with a project until I find a way that it resonates with them. So, always looking for that hook. 

You know, it gets a bit nebulous, but I mean, at the end of the day, it's always - even though I'm paid to be creative - it's a service thing, right? So, it's my way of making people happier and hopefully making them feel good, or feel pretty or handsome or whatever it might be. That's what I'm doing. So, I hope that answers. 

Melinda: Yeah. It kind of makes me curious. So how do you sort of draw that out from people? Like, somebody comes in and they're interested in kind of collaborating with you to design something and like, how do you get to what's most important? 

Geoffrey: That's a great question. Typically, we'll come in and we'll have, you know, the front of our atelier’s kind of set up almost like somebody’s living room, if you will. So, a lot of times people will come in and I'll encourage them to sit down, and we just sit down and we chat. And it's not - you know, I've had the store or the atelier for almost 13 years now, so I've had plenty of time to, you know, engage with people, ask different questions, sort of find the right questions to hopefully get the information that I need. 

And that's really the most important part of it for me, is asking the right questions. I have to get to know. I always tell clients it's like, not in a creepy way, but it's like, I kind of gotta get to know who you are. I want to know about your background. I want to know the kind of art that you like. I want to know, you know, what's your story? What do you do? You know? What's important to you. And a lot of times, it's a net of questions. And then something, some small nugget of information/kernel will catch with me. And from that point, it just sort of seems to grow, you know, into this idea. 

I had a client, for example, who, they’re collectors, and this client, she's of partial Indian origin. I may have told you the story earlier, but they, you know, she wanted to - she had purchased a stone, a special stone from me - and she really wanted to make a fancy ring. But she loved the idea of that ring having something to do with her personally. With her heritage. So, the way that I worked, I thought about it for a while, and I - basically, she was Deccan Heritage - so I started to do research on the Deccan period. And, you know, I don't have a whole lot of art history background, but I never went to art school. I'm just kind of a sponge. (Laughter)  

So, I started doing research. I found all this information and in my looking, I found reference to a woman from the 1500’s who was a Deccan Warrior Region queen, if you will. This woman was kind of forced under difficult circumstances into, you know, being a queen and also having to lead troops in the battle. So, most of the imagery you would see of her is this a beautiful woman on a fantastic white horse. You know, a lot of times, she's got a hawk or a falcon with her. But what really caught my eye was the bottom of the legs from like the four locks, I guess the knees down of that horse were red. And apparently it was to symbolize the blood of all the men that she conquered during battle. 

And something about that just hit me like a hammer, you know, because I have this strong woman of Deccan heritage, you know, historical figure. I have this woman who's also a very strong woman, you know, super intelligent, powerful in her own way. And presented this idea to her. So, I created a ring that basically with the bottom two thirds of the setting underneath (kind of hidden) were red to symbolize, also, just like the horse. The blood, if you will. Or sort of that conquering spirit, maybe. Combine that with a new technique that I had been wanting to try that I had never seen anybody do. And it was fantastic. It was a very long way of saying it was a very fulfilling experience. She was super happy. I was very excited just to have gotten this piece made and into the world, and successfully, and that it meant so much to her. 

Melinda: Yeah. I love that story. Thank you for sharing that. And, you know, it strikes me (this is probably obvious to you), but as I'm thinking about it, you know, when - I have certain jewelry that I wear, like, all the time, right? Like certain rings that I never take off and, you know, fashion is one way of kind of expressing ourselves and jewelry is certainly another. And, you know, we may have certain pieces of jewelry that we wear almost constantly, right? So, they're like with us? and kind of a part of our sense of identity, and how we present ourselves and express ourselves. 

Geoffrey: Yeah. That kind of - I mean, I love making one of a kind special pieces - but what really makes me happy is making pieces that people will, you know, that are super high quality, that are luxurious in their own way, but not in an ostentatious way. But pieces that, you know, it's that one bracelet that you want to wear all the time. Or that one pair of stud earrings that you’re like, it's just too easy to keep them in because they're perfect. That’s sort of what I want. I don't, yeah - that's what drives me really. I do want people - I want the things that I make to be lived in. I want them to be part of you. Yeah. 

Melinda: Yeah. Wonderful. So, I'm curious, when we talked previously, you kind of told me the story of how you got started, and it sounds like, you know, it wasn't necessarily always your dream growing up to become a jeweler. But you kind of happened into it. So, tell us a little bit more about how you got your start making jewelry. 

Geoffrey: Sure. Well, the PR friendly version of that, I guess is, (laughter) as a new college student with no money, I had a brand new girlfriend and I needed to make her a gift. And for some reason - I believe I had an art minor, that I was pursuing at the time - for some reason, I decided to cobble together a pair of earrings made out of glass. Stained glass. And they were successful. (Laughter) I don't know. I decided to make a pair of earrings and not do something else. But anyway, people started to - people saw those earrings. Other people started to want them. You know, when I first – so, it became this whole sort of monster craft business. You know, when I look back on it now, we kind of refer to it as sort of like crafty hands. 

You know, it's a little bit of a slur in a way, (laughter) because it was so, you know, I had the chairman of the department when I applied to go to school for jewelry design at FIT, you know, even told me many years later and he's like, “I'm going to find your portfolio and bring it back to haunt you.” (Laughter) Yeah. Because you know, by that point, I was on Madison Avenue. You know, very fancy stuff, but anyway, it became a thing, you know, and it started in a little cottage industry, if you will. I had a very small studio basement in Virginia in the middle of nowhere. And I would get the catalog of jewelry from the Metropolitan Museum. 

And that was like my, you know, that was my main inspiration. I thought that was high jewelry. And I would try to copy pieces of those pieces of jewelry with very humble materials. So, it could be brutal, you know, getting tin flashing or copper and stained glass, and all this kind of stuff, and really trying to take that stained glass idea and refine it and keep refining it. And it was pretty successful. I would say I kind of milked the idea all the way to the end. (Laughter) You know, as far as I could go. And then I realized that I needed to learn how to make real jewelry, whatever that means or meant at the time, and I applied to FIT. And, that girlfriend and I, we got married, and three weeks later, we moved to New York, which was crazy. 

Melinda: Amazing. 

Geoffrey: Yeah. And so, I went to went to school at FIT, and it was just, I was a little bit older - I was in my mid 20s - but it was an epiphany for me. I graduated with honors. And then immediately after that, I was lucky enough to apprentice to a German master jeweler on Madison Avenue who was kind of reaching the peak of his, you know, professional career. And that was sort of it. That was the beginning for me. Yeah.

Melinda: Yeah. I love that. And, you know, it's interesting to me that you studied the Metropolitan Museum catalogue because, of course, at the Met, you know, they have an amazing store and kind of featuring work and designs inspired from art from all over the world. Right. 

Geoffrey: Yeah. We got to work in pieces. I remember some of the pieces I did for them. So, that's why I got to say there’s all these circles in my - I mean, ten years later, I was actually making pieces for the Met - 

Melinda: Amazing. 

Geoffrey: And they're like, “Oh, would you do this?” So, I got to look at, there was some particular hoard I think, that they had unearthed in Europe, And so, I got to make these pieces that were sort of based off of that hoard. And it was really fun. You know, it's nice. And I got to, you know, be backstage essentially at the Met. I got to sort of get into cases and look at things, you know, when the crowds weren't there, which was fun. I think they make their own jewelry now. I think they may have their own workshops, but back at that time, they were basically outsourcing it to, you know, qualified people. 

Melinda: Yeah. Well, in that, I know - and we haven't really talked about this that much - but that you grew up kind of both in the US and in East Africa. So, different cultural influences in your own experience and upbringing. How does that kind of factor into your work? 

Geoffrey: Well, again, my whole life, as I said, I've kind of been a sponge. (Laughter) And, you know, again, I feel like, even from a creative standpoint - and I'm sure some people who are creatives or artists - you know, artist is one of those words that has always felt very heavy to me and sort of like, “Oh, you know, am I worthy of being that?” It's much more comfortable to be a craftsman - 

Melinda: Interesting. 

Geoffrey: - or jeweler or whatever it might be. Only later on that I realized sort of like, “Oh, yeah, okay. I've done enough and I think I can refer to myself that way, too.” If I need to. But back to the point of, you know, living all over and spending time in Africa, and traveling different parts of the world as a sponge. It's just sort of, I realized that's what excites me. And so, I tend to sort of - it's almost like a funnel, right? And a lot of these cultures have very, very decorative, you know, traditions in their art, you know, so when you look in things like - you know, what was interesting about being in East Africa is you've got such a mash up, you've got indigenous African, you've got European, you've got Arabic. 

All of that stuff coming together in a quite magical way most of the time. So, for me, the challenge, and what really makes me excited a lot of times is to look at these very complex decorative systems and try to distill those down into something, or be inspired to distill them down into something that's minimalist, I guess, right? So, that's one of the things that, you know, I guess, that upbringing and all that travel did for me. But I've just always lived my life that way. It's like, the more I see, the more I learn. 

You know, I think I mentioned at one point when we first spoke, I kind of always laugh when I hear somebody in my trade refer to themselves as a master. In my mind, there are no masters. It's like, for me to say that I'm a master is kind of implying in my mind that I've learned everything that needs to be learned. I'm done. And that is so far from the truth. You know, I oversee other jewelers now, and I have, you know, a full team that produces my pieces, but it's really fabulous for me to still get together with people who are younger than me or who are doing different things. And we're learning from each other. You know, it's like we all raise each other up. It sounds very cliché-ish, but it's true. 

Melinda: No, I mean, I think that's the essence of creativity and also of just kind of keeping one's spirit alive, you know. That there's no end point to the journey until the ultimate end point. But, you know, we're always learning, we're always growing. And in terms of creativity, it's about, you know, cross-fertilization of ideas and images, and inspirations. Right? 

Geoffrey: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And that's why the whole - you know, I will say it's not always easy to be collaborative or to even be in a sort of collaborative, service oriented business. And I think a lot of artists probably struggle with, you know, wanting to be that 14-year-old who's doing what they want to do. (Laughter) And balance that with the need to make somebody else happy and get paid for it. You know, that's a constant thing that you're balancing, I feel like. I still can't believe that it's sort of at the end - I always remind myself at the end of the day, it's sort of like, I'm still in disbelief sometimes, though, that, I've been able to make a living, if you will, by what I can think about. 

I don't even have to make it myself anymore. Thank god. (Laughter) Like, I did at the time. Yeah, well, I just, you know, it's like a lot of people are like, “Oh, Geoffrey, won't you… wouldn't you go back to the bench? You know, don't you ever want to sit down again and do it?” It's like, “No, not really.” (Laughter) 25 years is plenty, you know? I'm ready. It's like I’m indifferent with it. But to be able to think of things that other people want, it's like what could be better? It's as close to godlike, I think, as you can get, if you will. You know, in terms of like, I think it's not that somebody wants it. 

Melinda: And it's also incredibly energizing and vitalizing. You know, I was just talking with a couple of collaborators yesterday - we had a little video call because we're planning a music video that we're going to be shooting in Ireland this summer. And I almost couldn't sleep last night because I was just so excited, and it inspired thinking about it. And I think, you know, when you're in your sort of creative flow, there's like, no better feeling than that. 

Geoffrey: And do you really ever - I was thinking about this this morning. I live out in the woods, and surrounded by hundreds of acres. And, you know, it's like last house at the end of the last road. It's kind of Unabomber-esque. If you will. (Laughter) I guess. Yeah, I need that. I need that quiet solace, to disappear to. But I was walking the dogs down - I have two dogs who are kind of famous on Instagram in the shop - and I was walking them down the hill, and I was kind of thinking about this podcast. And I was thinking about just how I'm never not working in a way. That's not a bad thing. But it's, you know, you're constantly thinking of things, you know, ideas are constantly flowing. They're always kind of - you know, I will never run out of ideas. And that just seems to have gotten even stronger the older I get, you know? 

Melinda: Yes. Yes. I think sometimes as creatives, we have a fear that, like, someone's going to steal our idea or that it's somehow finite. And then, I think you start to realize like, “Oh, there's infinite sources of inspiration.” 

Geoffrey: Yeah. I mean… one of the Cartier brothers, you know, the thing was never copy. And that's also been kind of my thing too. That's another reason why for inspiration, I'm usually going back and looking at, you know, I don't really want to know what my contemporaries are doing. And it's not because I'm better or aloof or anything like that. It's just I really want to keep a clear - I don't want to poison the well, you know. Somehow it seems safe and almost honorable to be inspired by dead jewelers. (Laughter) So, most of the books, you know, in my library and things are, you know, ones that look back in time. 

I was also lucky enough to restore a lot of really amazing, very important pieces, you know, that are in museums and coffee table books, and all this kind of stuff. But there's just something amazing about holding one of these pieces in your hands. You know, something that might be several hundred years old. Or a hundred years old. And you're thinking, “Oh, who was the person that did this?” They had no electricity maybe. You know, they had no power. They just did this the hard way completely. There was none of that stuff. So, I think all of that stuff is, I don't know… it’s kind of fascinating. 

Melinda: It is for sure fascinating. Yeah, no, some of my favorite pieces of jewelry are kind of like the ones we were talking about that you might see in the Met catalog or something that, you know, are inspired by very ancient designs, and completely hand crafted. So, I'm curious, you kind of mentioned the idea of apprenticeship and you know, based on what you shared with me when we were initially talking, it sounds like you had the opportunity to kind of go through a very kind of quintessential apprenticeship, which, you know, we hear about that mode of learning and it's often associated with, like the guilds of times past in Europe and stuff like that. And we don't necessarily see that as much these days. But I'm really curious to hear a little bit more about that experience for you. 

Geoffrey: Sure. Well, mine, you know, I had the choice, luckily when I went out of school - I had two job options, basically. When I graduated from FIT, I didn't know a lot, but I knew that I was going to have to sort of sacrifice or devote a number of years making other people's things. And it's the way my mind works. So, it's like, “Okay. I know I'm not going to be immediately becoming my own designer.” You know? It's just not the way it works. I realized that knowledge is power. So therefore, the more knowledge I have, the better I'm going to be when I actually do what I'm going to do for myself. So, I had a choice of going to this one larger firm that had a couple dozen jewelers probably working for it. Very prestigious. 

But I would have been one green jeweler in a sea of more experienced jewelers. I also had an option to go into this very small family workshop that was German owned. It was a husband and wife team basically. And Klaus had come here, I think, in the late 50’s or the early 60’s. And he would - he was such a talker - but he would always tell the stories about how when he came, he didn't even have enough change in his pockets to buy, you know, gumballs for his children, this kind of thing. (Laughter) 

And, but he was trained in Germany in that classical apprenticeship. You know, which is no joke. And there was always a picture of his teacher master up on the wall, very sternly, kind of looking out at us. (Laughter) And Klaus gave us some of that. But Klaus was just too friendly and gregarious to be mean, you know what I mean? He had an incredible engineering mind. But my education and jewelry really didn't start in earnest until I started working for him. Initially, I started off, I think I was making $7 an hour sweeping the floor. 

Melinda: Yep. Literally sweeping the floor. 

Geoffrey: Literally sweeping the floors, and just watching. So, I would watch, you know - we had at the time when I first started - I mean, we were doing big things. There were, you know, Princess Di was still in the news everywhere. And there were Saudi billionairaire-esses that were getting divorced and like, you know, spending money like crazy. (Laughter) All these big pieces of jewelry. So, you know, we had things come in that were just necklaces with emeralds the size of a hotel bar of soap. You know, dime graduated diamond riviera. Like, the biggest stone in the center was the size of a quarter. That kind of thing. So, we got a lot of these pieces that were difficult to repair or difficult to make. 

Klaus was known as somebody who could kind of always find a solution and always get the job done. And that was the, you know, the mentality around it. So, slowly I got to watch. And then he started me doing small things and it was very controlled. And by the time I left his workshop, I think it had been almost six years. It was kind of like getting your PhD. (Laughter) Maybe. But by the time I left, he would be in Germany in the summers, and I would be in charge of the shop. So, it was kind of an interesting sort of flip flop. But like, all things, you know, there did come a time when I needed to leave, I felt like. And later on, many years later, I wound up taking over his workshop for a while when he retired. 

Melinda: Oh, wow. 

Geoffrey: All that. So that was, you know, that was quite an experience as well. Yeah. But, so, in my mind, it was definitely the types of exercises we did and just the mentality of, you know, especially the German way of approaching jewelry is extremely rigorous. And, you know, it's either right or it’s wrong, it's either flat or it's not. You know, there's no - it’s certain way of approaching the work, you know, I can still hear him in my head. He's no longer alive, but I can still - 

Melinda: Of course. (Laughter) 

Geoffrey: - hear all because - so also, with his German, he had a bit of dyslexia sometimes when he was speaking in English. So he'd be like, “Oh, I'm outloud thinking.” Or, you know, that kind of thing. But he also had a huge ego and knew that he was pretty much one of the best jewelers out there, and he would not hesitate to let you know that if you needed reminding. (Laughter) But just ways of doing things and like, he'd be like, “Oh, it's just the way my mind works…” 

You know, he would say that to me constantly, but you always approach it in the sense of like, what are the absolutes? And I've actually used that in my life a lot. It's like, when you're solving a problem with jewelry, whatever it might be, you have to kind of figure out, “Okay, what are the known facts? What are the absolutes?” Right. Usually in a ring, let's say that might be something as simple as the finger size, right? You can't change that. The client’s finger size is the finger size. So, everything builds outside after that. Right. And something as seemingly trivial as a finger size could affect the whole structure of something. 

Might force you to make design changes that you wouldn't have otherwise had to make. So, there's that. Yeah. I'm going off on a tangent here a little bit, (laughter) but it was definitely, you know… the last thing I'll say is I had talked with him constantly every day, day in, day out. And, sometimes to the point where it was hard for me to get my work done because he liked to talk to me about things. (Laughter) But there was a little sign that he'd put on my - you know, he gave me this idea of control - it’s a little word printed, and it would go on the bench in front of me. Every time I sat down at my bench for years, I saw that word “control”. 

And it was just this, like, repetitious reminder. And like, that any time you sit down to do something that you're fully engaged, right? It's like sitting down to meditate or, you know, whatever it might be, it's being in the moment. It's being totally focused on whatever's in front of you, right? Paying attention, being present. And before I even had any spiritual practice, I think that was something that I took on sort of naturally. 

Melinda: Interesting. 

Geoffrey: Yeah. Always been a good thing. I could probably use more of those little signs around the house. (Laughter) 

Melinda: Yeah. Right. Right. Well, it's interesting to me because the word “control”, I mean, it brings up a lot of associations and it can mean a lot of different things. But it sounds like in this case, it's really about that focus, that attention, that presence. 

Geoffrey: Yeah. Yeah. It was definitely work. Obviously no one wants to be controlled, right? But control, and control in what you're doing. You know, we were making things that, you know, like I said, things that - sometimes working with certain stones, be it emeralds or things like that, like, you know, steel. All steel tools had to be pushed very far away. You'd lie on your bench pan, which is the part that covers your lap with layers of towels, because you just had to try to control every possibility. Right? Sometimes when you were sitting down to make things - a lot of times with jewelry, it's like 95% preparation - something that happens in seconds or a minute, you know - and you're making sure that everything is as controlled or as right as it can be before you actually take that step and do that thing. 

Melinda: Yeah. Like a scientific laboratory almost. 

Geoffrey: It is. And there's - you know, jewelry itself, there’s so many indicators that you do all this preparation and then your eyes - it's such a combination of things because, you know, every different alloy of metal has a different melting point. It acts differently. There's different colors that you're looking for. You know, solder always follows the heat. So your brain is simultaneously looking at all of these things like, calculating the mass of objects, the heat sync of things, actually joining a very large thing to a very tiny thing. So, you have to figure out how you're going to move the heat through a piece. You're looking at the color of the metals because they give you a lot of feedback. And stones are kind of the same way. 

Melinda: Wow. It's fascinating. Yeah. Well, I'm curious because we were talking before we kind of officially started recording, about your environment, your background there. And your thangka of wrathful deities. I'm curious, because, you know, I personally follow the Buddhist path, among other things. And I'm curious that you have that - this show kind of explores the intersections of creativity, psychology and spirituality - so, I'm curious how does spirituality figure in for you? Or you actually mentioned just a minute ago, in terms of like, focus and presence, attention, being in the moment? 

Geoffrey: Sure. I think I really, I mean, I hate to use the words because it sounds again, sort of - I don't, I can - but sort of a spiritual awakening, if you will. Probably it happened for me when I left New York City and moved to where I am, which is Hudson, New York. And there's just something maybe… maybe it's about being close to the Hudson River. Like, great energy there. You know, coincidentally or not, there are a large number of monasteries and things like that that are located in this area, or that it's something to do with that there are certain places on Earth that tend to congregate. 

But for me, it was just a number of teachers, if you will, in the guise of friends, sort of opened my mind in many ways… there's a number of things, it's sort of it became almost like sort of studying a form of, I kind of call it mental martial arts, sort of, that sort of practice of… what's the best way to say this without sounding like I'm crazy? (Laughter) You know, a lot of people have heard of, Abraham Hicks, for example. A lot of those kinds of sort of channelled teachings just resonated with me. And when I started to think about it and to sort of implement it, it just worked, and it made sense, and a lot of things just sort of fell into place for me. And I think there's a lot of, you know, I've always been fascinated with things like Buddhism and even Hinduism, where there's a good bit of mystical tradition involved in that stuff. 

And I do feel like there's a lot of things that are energetic that, you know, you might not be able to taste it, touch it or see it, but you can feel it. And yeah, it's just, that's kind of where I am with it. I'm not religious. I do try to meditate every day because I see the difference it makes for me. (Laughter) And the more I practice these things that I've been thinking about and sort of my right thinking, if you will… and sort of developing my awareness with other people, It's almost, you know, you have the ability to sort of guard your energy. You have the ability to help other people. But you also, you know, indeed for me, someone that's dealing with a lot of clients, I have almost like a hyper - and maybe that's part of my ability anyway - but I kind of feel like I'm super intuitive. 

And I can always sort of - I feel like I can feel more. I can tell what people are thinking. I can read their emotions, their expressions. And I just try to be super open to that. At the same time - I'm sure you could probably relate to this - being in a public space, I can somewhat control who comes in the space. But I do have people come through that want to pull me down to whatever their doing, and that's not always a good thing. So your job, my job, in the service part of it is to uplift people, I feel like, and to be kind and generous, and warm. But also, you know, stay on my level. 

Melinda: Yeah. And there's so many things in the world right now that are trying to take us different places. So, it's like maintaining that sense of equanimity. Right? Regardless of what's happening or who are you talking to or… yeah. Yeah. 

Geoffrey: I think the best you can do for people generally is on a small level, one-on-one, small acts of kindness. And also just, you know, by example. And I don't know, that's what I try to… I'm no saint, but I try to be a good person, and just try to be kind to everybody. 

Melinda: That’s what it's all about in the end, I think. Yeah. The one other thing I wanted to ask you… so, we sort of talked about your apprenticeship and then, you know, at some point you realized it was time to go. And then, what was it like to go out on your own and get your own studio? Because I think a lot of people face that at some point. It’s like, whatever you might be doing in the world… like, you're a psychotherapist and you're working for an agency and like, taking that leap to start your own practice. Or so many creatives have to be entrepreneurial on some level if they're going to really put their work out into the world. So, what was that like for you? 

Geoffrey: And a lot of creatives are not… I’d be the first to admit, to be in business and to be successful, I mean you’re constantly learning, right? You don’t have all the skills generally. There are very few people who are really really good at being creative, who are also really really good at being a business person. (Laughter) So over time and with the knocks and everything I think you learn to either develop some of these skills, or you learn to let other people into you world who have those. That was a big thing for me because I’m very solitary. That idea of a jewelry designer that’s out in the woods, and they’ve got this beautiful thing that leads out onto a thousand acres, and the animals and the birds are there. And they’re just like “Oh. It’s a creative dream.” 

But the reality of it is that to be in business and to make money, there's so much organization, there's so much administrative work that's involved with it, so much people management. So, for me, when I first left working for class, for example, I did not have those skills. And I did a lot of things. Some were successful and some were not. I did some making of jewelry for some other people. Kind of got into fixing up my houses and things like that for a while. I kind of took a little bit of a break. I actually moved away from New York and moved down to Virginia, where I'm from, for a few years for some family reasons. 

And then realized that it was not enough and came back to New York, and that was super traumatic because, you know, again, not in the best financial position at the time. Really starting over, I had this background, but I had no notoriety. I had no press. I really didn't have any collection of jewelry. I was really starting from scratch and trying to gain a foothold in the in the world. 

Melinda: In a very competitive world, too.

Geoffrey: Yeah. Yeah. So that's what I did. And I just ground it out. You know, the stores that I was in and the magazines, the press that I got, I did it just by reaching out and trying to make connections and kind of doing it the hard way. I could never afford to pay for PR or any of that stuff. Same thing with photography. A lot of people can't believe that the images say, on my Instagram feed, are my images, but they are and it's just because I had no choice. (Laughter) I had some great help from other people who kind of taught me, but because I was a sponge, I was able to take those lessons and make them mine. So, I'd say, it wasn't a linear path, I think. 

Melinda: Of course. Never is. 

Geoffrey: And then, worked again for myself for a while, and then, had the opportunity to take over, you know, this workshop on Madison. Unfortunately, that happened, at that point, full of ego. I thought I was on top of the world, you know, it's like, “Oh, I'm in charge. I've got this fabulous high jewelry workshop. I'm on Madison Avenue. I'm the principal. I'm making for all these people…” Because I was. I was making for Verdura, Fred Leighton, Taffin, all these, like, fancy people. Christie’s, Sotheby's, all that stuff. And then the recession happened, and all of these big companies that I was relying on for income - because I had a full staff, full benefits and full salaries and all this kind of stuff. 

And then all of a sudden, everybody stopped making things. Fred Leighton was one of our bigger clients. They went bankrupt. And so, we never got all that back. So, it was a very great lesson, but it was also very humbling. Had to close that, and then instead I pivoted, and I went and I became a full professor of jewelry design at FIT. Again, sort of another, you know - 

Melinda: - Iteration. (Laughter) 

Geoffrey: Oh, yeah. And that was fantastic. I was able to still kind of do my business in a sense, not in a full way, but the experience of teaching large classes, you know, for intense periods of time, like, really hand skills. Like, I would be sitting in a jewelry bench and I'd have 30 people around me, you know, like, demonstrate things. You really had to - and a lot of the students were older or had come from other careers. And so, there's nothing like teaching to make sure that you really know what you think, you know. 

Melinda: Absolutely. (Laughter) 

Geoffrey: So, it was kind of like having a television show for me. And I would have to come in and kind of like, flip a switch and be like, “Okay! It’s The Geoffrey Show.” (Laughter) Almost in a way, but helping all those people and it was very satisfying. And a lot of my students went on to develop their successful companies, which is really wonderful. 

Melinda: It's so gratifying. Right? Yeah. 

Geoffrey: Yeah. I feel like Klaus and his teacher would be happy that I feel like I did my thing and sort of like - because basically, I took from that original guy and passed it down. But I was lucky enough, you know, Klaus, again, because of who he was, he was friends with [unclear] (who was the legendary top designer) and Harry Winston, this guy, you know, amazing. He's no longer alive either. But, like, I got to know him because of Klaus. I went, I think I mentioned I went to school with the grandson of the last apprentice to Pierre Cartier, the brother who founded the New York branch. 

He was still alive at the time, but just the experience of, like, these people were legendary. And again, they came up in those periods where, like, there was no technology, and that's the way I learned. I don't think of myself as old, but when I look back, it's like, we had no laser machines. There was no computerized this or that. It was when you wanted to make something, you either manipulated metal to put parts together or you by hand out of a piece of wax or whatever it might be. I have all those skills, but luckily, you know, it's a bit different now. 

Melinda: Yeah. But so important, I think, to have those fundamentals. Right? 

Geoffrey: Yeah. I think - and I've said this a lot - I think you know there's the way that computers have affected everything… I mean it's always sort of top of mind for everybody now, especially with AI. Right? And art. And it's like, is it art if it's AI? All these like, very prickly questions around at all where it's going. But for me, when I see, at least in my worlds, the computerized things have allowed students to come straight out of school and sort of instantly jump into being a designer. 

And I can always tell when someone has no experience. I can see it in the pieces because there's always quality to it. And I think that experience of whether you're an artist painting, you know, working with different mediums… for me, it's like knowing about that metal has plasticity. It's not this impermanent thing. Or this permanent thing. Knowing the difference that a tenth of a millimeter makes. You’re adding when you're creating something. Those kinds of things, I think, give you an edge and then you just hopefully take the new technology, and it just makes you even better. It's just a tool. 

Melinda: Exactly. 

Geoffrey: I tell everybody it's like, I could ride a horse to work, right? But I have an electric car, so why would I ride a horse? (Laughter) It's not the most efficient way. It's very good. I don't know.

Melinda: I love that. Well, I usually like to end each episode with what I call a Creativity Pro Tip, which is something that people, whether they have anything to do with jewelry or not, but, you know, something that people can take out and try on their own. So, based on maybe your apprenticeship, your teaching of students, your moving into becoming an entrepreneur, what's one piece of advice you wish you'd received, or maybe something you wish you would have known back in the day? 

Geoffrey:  I think Cellini was the one that there's some famous quote of, like, you know, “All of the ones that did the work, the ones that did the drawings first did the best work.” For me, it's probably, make time to draw would be a huge thing. No matter what you're doing. I don't know. I don't know what else to give in terms of advice. 

Melinda: Yeah, no, I love that. Like, you know, in whatever medium you're working in, maybe it's drawing, maybe it's taking notes, maybe it's recording voice memos, but it's like, somehow recording your inspirations. 

Geoffrey: Yeah. Because things get forgotten. Sometimes, I'll look back on old notebooks and things like that. I'm like, “Oh, wow. You know, this could be a whole new collection.” But just keep - you know, the thing is to keep for me - what's so critical is to respect the old for sure and give it due, because there's so much to continually learn from that. But also keep trying to find ways to do things differently. Whatever it might be, keep challenging. Like, can this be done this way? If somebody says, I can't… why? Why is that? You know what I mean? Challenge things. And again, that other thing of like, I go back to Cartier again… that “Don’t copy,”. 

There's so much in the world I feel like that's derivative. And I think when you're learning, you expect a little bit of that. Right? It's sort of, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. I did see little bits of my aesthetic, if you will, in some of my student’s early work. It’s like that's expected. But I just feel like in a general sense of things, a lot of creatives get a little lazy with where and how they're pulling inspiration. So that's my thing, is sort of like, keep looking… keep looking on ideas, keep drawing, keep being curious. That's what really counts. And keep being… you know, whatever you do, make it the best you can do. 

Melinda: Well, it's been such a pleasure, Geoffrey. Thank you so much. And if people want to learn more about you and your work and your atelier, what's the best way for them to find you? 

Geoffrey: They can find me on Instagram: @goodforyou. All spelled out: @goodforyou. Obviously, it's Good, the last name, and I am for you. (Laughter) So, I always tell people, “You can say that however you want.” That's probably the best way to see sort of what we're doing. You can also find me on my website, which is just geoffreygood.com. I love to teach. I love to be helpful. If somebody - you know, I love to collaborate. Always, always available if somebody has a question. So, those are probably the best ways. You can always message me there or on Instagram. 

Melinda: Perfect. Aright. Well, thank you so much for your time today. I so appreciate it. 

Geoffrey: Thank you for having me. 

Melinda: Find and connect with us on YouTube and social media under @syncreate. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave us a review. And again, we'd love to hear from you. So drop us a line anytime. If you've tried out one of our Pro Tips, you just want to get in touch or have ideas for future topics or guests. 

We're recording today at Record ATX Studios in Austin, Texas, with Geoffrey joining us from the Hudson Valley in New York. The podcast is produced in collaboration with Mike Osborne at 14th Street Studios. Thanks so much for being with us and see you next time.