July/August 2000 Issue

Island times are almost always good times, of course, and if you want to keep track of them, there are countless styles of timepieces. Here are just a few of the many offered by area galleries and shops:
Travel back in time with Voyager Collection’s 1850 Maritime Clock available at the Sporty Seahorse Department Store. A “tribute to the nautical folk art of scrimshaw,” it is actually made of hi-tech composite resin. The collection is hand-painted by FIGI Graphics of San Diego. Another California-based company, Bey-Berk International, crafts eye-catching brass-plated lighthouse clocks. A different lighthouse clock, decorated with seagulls and clouds but lacking numerals, is made of plastic but looks like stained glass. It is hand-painted by Joan Baker Designs. 362 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, 941/472-1858.
    It’s a grand old flag and it graces this slate-blue clock, found at the Islander Trading Post. The wooden clock is designed by Faith Rollins, who has also incorporated a lighthouse into her patriotic timepiece. 1446 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, 941/395-0888.
    Sanibel artist Dorothy Wallace creates whimsical wooden clocks with an “islandy theme,” according to Duey Liber, owner of the Sanibel Gallery, which features Wallace’s works. Her clocks are painted in bright-colored acrylics “and at first, you wouldn’t think the colors go together, but they do,” Liber adds. A pink, bell jar-shaped clock is decorated with beads and shells on wires, but has no numerals. Also missing its numerals is a cute triangle-shaped fish clock. Heart of the Island Plaza, 1628 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, 941/472-3307.
    Bird lovers flock to the patented Singing Bird Clock, which features one of 12 authentic bird songs announcing each hour. Included are the American robin, house wren, mourning dove, house finch, and blue jay. Available at the Audubon Nature Store, the clock is made by Mark Feldstein and Associates of Toledo, Ohio, with help from the Library of Natural Sounds and Visual Sources at Cornell’s Ornithology Lab in Ithaca, New York. A portion of proceeds from sales goes to promote the study and care of wildlife. Tahitian Gardens, 1985 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, 941/395-2050.
    “There Goes the Neighborhood” is the name of a line of fantastical clocks dreamed up by artist M. Paige, a part-time Florida resident. Many come complete with pendulum. One of those shown at Island Style Gallery is a tall wooden clock painted in olive, purple, gold, orange, and green. It is decorated with a snake, leaves, and letters of the alphabet. Unit #16, Periwinkle Place, 2075 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, 941/472-6657; or Unit #210, Chadwick’s Square, Captiva, 941/472-4343; or 620 Duval Street, Key West, 305/292-7800.
    Antiquarians, take heart: Sundials can be found at the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation’s Nature Shop. Handcrafted to resemble wrought iron, lead, and stone castings, the sundials are made of durable, bonded marble with a hand-rubbed patina. They are from Hen-Feathers Corp. of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, which specializes in original designs and museum reproductions. Sculptor and painter Rebecca Adler Greenwell’s RAG ART Products include delightful, brightly colored fish and frog clocks. Her inspiration comes from primitive and naive art, combined with her love for nature and animals. The super lightweight clocks are hand-crafted from metal, painted with acrylics, and sealed with epoxy. 3333 Sanibel-Captiva Road, Sanibel, 941/472-2329.
    An intriguing ceramic Father Time Clock comes from the Washington State husband-and-wife team of business manager Gary Gramstad and sculptor Debbie Fecher. Available at Jungle Drums Gallery, it is a clock within a clock as a wizened Father Time also holds a pendulum. Mixed-media artist F. B. Fogg “infuses romance and humor” into her fanciful clocks, including the Black Sheep Clock and clever Clockroach, with a pendulum made of “garbage” in a bucket. 11532 Andy Rosse Lane, Captiva, 941/395-2266.
    At the Bell Tower Shops in Ft. Myers, every imaginable timepiece can be found at ClockWorks, which is owned by master European craftsman Jan Zuidema. High-gloss lacquer highlights the art deco style of a wooden wall clock from Italy. A 1920s flapper couple is depicted dancing, with the man obscuring one-third of the clock’s Roman numerals. The ceramic, sundial-inspired wall clock comes from the Netherlands. Its Roman numerals are made of inlaid mosaic pieces that blend well with the sandy color of the clock’s face. 13499 South Cleveland Avenue, Bell Tower Shops, Ft. Myers, 941/433-4509.
    Nancy Young Inc.’s shopping bags proclaim that the store carries “Curious Clocks,” which certainly is true. Many customers collect handmade ceramic mantelpiece and wall clocks by English artist Mary Rose Young (no relation to the store’s owner, Nancy Young Mosny, of Sanibel). This mantel clock sports an orange face surrounded by brilliant blue and decorated with little ceramic roses. Small ceramic “jewels” jazz up this bright yellow, rectangular clock. The artist “takes pride in little imperfections in her very personal clocks.” 13499 South Cleveland Avenue, Bell Tower Shops, Ft. Myers, 941/489-4929.
— Libby Grimm