I’ve long wanted to fulfill requests for custom cuckoo clocks. One we hear a lot is to depict a family member’s new house on a clock as a house warming gift.

One day a woman came to the Mobile Cuckoo Clock Gallery with such a request. I decided  the time was ripe to figure out a way to make these dreams come into being.

My idea was to design a plain clock that would have room to paint whatever the customer wished. A shield clock came to mind.

When I started playing with a design it told me it needed a roof, departing from the typical shield arrangement.

The configuration of the dial and cuckoo door left a spot for a painting: a blank slate!

Once I decided upon the shape of the front and sides, Zach cut them and routed the edges. I painted them with General Finishes Milk paint, and they were ready for the big event.

The customer had supplied me with a photo of her daughter’s house. They had fallen in love with an historic house in Charleston and duplicated it here in Cherokee County, Georgia.

Next I needed an artist to paint the house on the clock. My search locally came up short. There are some wonderful artists around, but for various reasons none were able to help. Frustrated, I tried painting it myself. I did a better job than I expected, but, no, big fat no.

Then I remembered Emily Gurr who I had found on Tik Tok. Her artwork is of the style I was after. I wrote to her and she said sure, she was game!

While the clock front and sides took a trip to Emily in Ohio, Cameron was busy down East Cherokee Drive here in Hickory Flat cutting out the case for the clock. With shipping issues quality Baltic birch plywood is like gold. Good thing we got it right on our first try.

When the package arrived from Emily I squealed as I opened it, and placed the painted clock front on the case. Yes, that’s what I had envisioned!

Now to decide what color to paint the trim… what about the dial…

That evening I happened to walk by the little painting I had done weeks ago. I simply had to take this photo to show what a real artist can do!

Next Mark put a roof on the clock and installed the sides. The angle was a challenge, but well worth it as the sides look so good at an angle.

He then added the roof trim and I auditioned colors to paint it.

I glued the shingles on and Mark went right to work installing the movement and the bellows. It was past dinner time that evening when I placed it on a stand. We both admired it a spell.

The next day was dial and cuckoo door day.

The stained dial with the metal numbers really sets off the clock. We love the look of it and I am already mulling a MCM design that’s rolling around in my head. It complements the painting so well!

It’s such a pleasure running the clocks after we build them. To hear them cuckooing knowing we created it is quite amazing.

Christmas Eve morning I placed the clock in a box and headed off to deliver it. My customer placed it under her tree, ready to be given to my customer’s daughter and family just a few hours later.

Once I knew the clock was received I posted a picture of the clock on Facebook.  The recipient posted this photo of the cuckoo clock on the wall in the house it was made for. It looks so at home! This is what this business is all about!

Interested in having us make you your own custom painted cuckoo clock?

It can be a house, your dogs, horses… anything. I’m excited to see what people come up with.

There’s room on the front plus the sides for painting. So you can personalize it as much as you wish.

Let’s talk!

(800) 272-0742

~Jodie