Tick Tock, The Mice Went Up the Clock

When I was a child.. I had a fascination with my grandfather and his cuckoo clock. It wasn't terribly fancy, but you had to pull the chains to pull the weights back up, and the bird would quickly spring out and cuckoo. When he died, no kidding, so did his clock. My parents left it hanging on the wall, though it no longer kept time.
This started a lifetime love of clocks and a fascination with the more eclectic versions. Somewhere in my mind, that cuckoo clock became imbued with my grandfather's spirit.. thusly to me, ALL clocks have a bit of that, Whether it be their owners, the creators, or just Father Time himself.

It's a dream of mine to actually own a grandfather clock. As heirloom pieces and specialized clocks, they can be rather expensive, but I do love them and just the feeling they cast on a house. There are many myths and legends surrounding them.. including the one where they gained their name:

Previous to the 1870's, they were known as Floor Clocks. During the 19th century, two brothers named Jenkins worked as managers at the George Hotel in Piercebridge, County Durham, England. One of the brothers died and, according to the story told to Henry Clay Work in 1875, the clock (made by James Thompson) began to lose time. Repair attempts were made by the hotel staff and local clockmakers, but failed. When the other brother died at the age of 90, the clock broke down altogether, and was never repaired in remembrance of the brothers.

H. C. Work decided to write a song about the story of this clock in 1876, which he called My Grandfather's Clock. The song became popular, and it is from this song that the current usage derives.
-Wikipedia

They're also heavily noted in many nostalgic short stories, many whimiscal tales, and horror stories. (I'll cite the example of the huge clock in "The Last Unicorn" because that's what immediately comes to mind.

I wanted to make a Grandfather Clock, and really wanted to emulate the cabinet maker, Jake Cress (he's an artist, he truly truly is). Hopefully my Grandfather Clock outwardly shows that "spirit" that I see in all clocks.

Hickory Dickory Dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck one and down he ran
Hickory Dickory Dock

Getting tired of mice continually running up him, this Grandfather Clock has "caught" these two unlucky mice. With his merry winking face, the sculpted hands keep the time to whatever timezone you wish.. and chimes "Hickory Dickory Dock".
I took special care with this item. Each bit is custom sculpted and textured by me. These are my own sounds, and I really wanted to give you a story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it.

Because this item is so specialized, it is available as copy only, and may be purchased off Xstreet: CFF - Grandfather Clock - Hickory Dickory Dock for $750.00 Lindens.

A Summery Edition

A few weeks ago, I was perusing pictures of the Winchester Mansion out in California. This eclectic house was built by Sarah Winchester who, for her own reasons, kept the house in a constant state of construction. She believed that ghosts of the people killed by the firearms created by her family roamed the house. Thus, it's become a tourist stop (I'd love to go there), a place of peculiar interest, and a semi-mecca for people who have a love of the occult. The house has stairs leading nowhere, doors that open to nothing, rooms askew.. it's an architectural oddity. And in the midst of these pictures of spider webs in stained glass, stairs being where they have no business being, etc.. I saw pictures of the greenhouse attached to the mansion.

Every victorian mansion had one, either attached to the main house or stand alone.. but they had one. In comparison to the rest of the house, the Greenhouse looked.. normal. I sat back, and thought.. something should be different. It's so, bright.. and normal looking.

So, I set out to create the greenhouse that in my mind's eye, should have been the Winchester greenhouse. It's solid looking, highly detailed.. and was created to be the focal point of a build.
Everything from the baked shadows on the floor to the door creaking open and closed is designed to give a feeling of ambiance. As you walk up the stained concrete steps, a broken hasp lies on the stoop, part of the broken lock still hanging next to the door. Vines, breaking free from the crates that brought them, have taken over a full end of the greenhouse (custom plants, designed by me)while a planter of vines sits further in. Unused trellises are leaned up against the glass and a work table is set with bags of potting soil left on the shelf below. Strange and unusual diagrams and drawings are scattered about the table where a gramophone/victrola and a potted plant sit. Touch the gramophone, it cranks.. then you hear the hiss of the wax record before Chopin's Waltz in A minor begins. A few steps toward the fountain.. and the door slams shut. The fountain sits at the very back in a round brick centerpiece, the whole greenhouse drawing you toward it. It bubbles serenely along as you sit at the edge of the cistern and dabble your fingers in the water.

This piece is primmy.. but I really wanted to give it the detail it had in my mind's eye. The individual objects may be removed.. but it's to be taken as a whole. It's not the Winchester Greenhouse.. but it is, to my mind.. what should have been there.


***
Addendum: Many thanks to the Primgraph for kindly mentioning CFF in their coverage of the Home Expo 2010.
***