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Biography
I feel a great reverence for and deep connection to nature. I have a particular affinity with trees and respect them greatly, so I take care in how I use them (see "Environmental, ethical and fairtrade" policies on homepage). I love working with wood as a material and take much joy in seeing it's beauty.
I have been working in wood since 1985 when I started designing and making "Geoff King's Original Wooden Toys" in Somerset. I was awarded both the gold medal and The Richard Blizzard Cup for toy making at the 1986 and 1987 London Woodworker Shows and the gold medal in the toy section of the 1987 Bristol Woodworker Show. I then taught myself carving and received the silver medal in that category at the 1988 Bristol Woodworker show.
During the next six years I worked at high class joinery, furniture making, wood turning, carving and wrote for both the "Woodworker" magazine and "Woodworking International" until I moved to the far north of Scotland with my wife and son. Here we eco-renovated an old croft house and have been gradually establishing a two acre organic woodland garden, where we have planted over three hundred trees and grow as much food as we can.
Since November 2003 I have been designing and making hand carved woodland jewellery using reclaimed offcuts, during which time this has evolved into the diverse range available today. I am still exploring new designs, discovering inspiration in the materials and my beautiful surroundings, so my work continues to develop, keeping it fresh and vibrant. Don't forget to revisit this site to see new pieces added at regular intervals.
My work is now available on-line in addition to the range of events I attend throughout the year and in "Julian Jardine" gallery, Perth, Scotland.
I undertake commissions for special one-off pieces, designed and crafted according to your personal wishes.
About us
Geoff carves all the jewellery himself but has invaluable support from his wife Fiona (nicknamed Fuggo). She deals with phone calls, marketing, organising attendance at fairs, administration, planning and advises on creative development.
We moved to the north of Scotland 16 years ago with our young son where we have renovated an abandoned old croft house with two-acre garden that was empty for 30 years. We have planted over 300 trees, all native species some as a windbreak and many food bearing (e.g. wild cherry and hazel nut). The previously neglected and abused garden is run organically to grow as much food as we can, inspired by permaculture and biodynamic principles. We are WWOOF hosts, members of Trees for Life and Reforesting Scotland.
The renovation of the property was done predominantly by our-selves, using mostly environmentally friendly and local materials such as traditional lime mortars and harling, re-used slates, recycled stone and Scottish Douglas Fir timbers for the roofing, Scottish oak doors and windows and recycled pine beams as flooring. Additionally, we installed high levels of insulation.
We plan to install solar panels and wind power, both for workshop and home, once time, energy and funds come together at the same time! Our aim is to gradually collect materials and self -build, mainly using scrap and recycling. Long term we hope to be off the national grid.
We have free range, organically fed chickens and ducks, are starting a coppice rotation to contribute to our wood fuelled central heating and of course as new material for the jewellery. We also collect old whiskey barrel slats for multiple use and the barrels come in handy for rainwater collection.
We buy as much local, fairly traded and organic produce as we can and swap our own surplus for straw, manure and help watering the garden and feeding the animals when we are away at craft fairs.
Our vehicle doubles as transport for shows and self-catering accommodation. We use it as little as possible, preferring on-line sales. However, at this stage we still use fairs as a way to promote the website and enjoy the contact face to face with real people. It is also useful for customers to see the work in “real life”.
We are members of the nearby Milton community woodland, where there are fantastic log buildings, great workshops and activities all year round. We both go to Taoist Tai Chi classes and Fiona is a voluntary instructor. Our son Robert has now moved to Edinburgh, giving us a room space to store apples, jams, wines, potatoes and house guests. The rest of the time it is fantastic to just “be” in this northern coastal landscape and appreciate our place in nature.