In its early day, the clock was one of the most valued possessions in the home, not only as a status symbol, but as an instrument to measure the passage of time. Today we can receive a digital clock in the mail for free as an advertising promotion. How time has changed.

In this age of technology we have tools available to us to make life easier and more efficient. As you read this text, billions of bits of information are being sent around the earth to be re-assembled on your computer at nearly the speed of light. 

In our fast paced life today there is a felt need to at times slow down and appreciate things that are outside the venue of faster and easier - to appreciate something that is made entirely by hand. To have something in your home that makes a connection to a simpler time.

The original Arts & Crafts movement came to life as a response to the dehumanizing effects of the industrial revolution. The current Arts & Crafts revival offers a similar respite from the inundation of the Information & Technology revolution. Design elements of the Arts & Crafts movement combine the simplicity of Eastern design philosophy with the traditions of the West. Elements that are integrated into Arts & Crafts design are as fresh and applicable today as they were over 100 years ago. The designs are at home in either a traditional or contemporary home setting.

With Present Time clocks I feel I am bringing the qualities of a simpler time to our present day. Many of the woodworking techniques that go into making the clock cabinet are the same as those that have been practiced over thousands of years. Today I can use contemporary tools and techniques to efficiently make by hand a product that is drawn from a simpler time but is created as an individual art piece in "present time".

I have always liked to make things. My schooling included a BFA degree in sculpture from Cal State Long Beach and an MFA degree in painting from Claremont Graduate School in 1982. I showed with Roy Boyd Gallery in Chicago and Los Angeles. I taught drawing and painting at Antelope Valley College from 1983 to 1993.

I started making clocks in 1991. At the time I was living in a 1912 Craftsman home in Highland Park, near downtown Los Angeles. I had seen original Stickley clocks in antique stores, but certainly could not afford $15,000 for an original. So I figured I'd try and make one myself. At the time I was working with a friend making custom furniture and had access to plenty of quality scrap wood. My first efforts relied on the limited faces available in the clock parts catalog. My partner Vince showed me what he could do with his computer, scanning original arts & crafts fonts, and created faces that far better suited the clocks I was making.

My interest in Arts & Crafts design drew me to the Gamble House in Pasadena. I enrolled in the docent training program taught by Randall Mackinson and did docent work for two years. This experience developed my appreciation for craftsman design and workmanship. I was given the opportunity to sell my clocks in the Gamble House Bookstore in Pasadena, CA., and to this day they remain one of my most successful stores.

In 1993, in pursuit of a simpler life, my partner Vince and I left Los Angeles for the farmlands of Skagit Valley, Washington and an 1880's farmhouse. I have converted the garage and adjoining horse barn to accommodate my workshop. I enjoy the luxury and burden of being able to work at home.

I am a very small operation and can produce only a limited number of clocks per year. I usually work in runs of certain models of clocks varying in numbers from 5 to 25. Present Time clocks are made custom "to order" and lead times can vary from 2 weeks to 2 months or more, depending on what you have selected, and what I am working on at the time. I always make extras of models during a run and so may have some selections "in store" for you for immediate delivery.