Linda Popp makes clocks.

She calls them "narrative clock sculptures," said Popp, who chaired Towson High School's art department for 16 years before she became visual arts coordinator for Baltimore County Public Schools in 2005.

Skipping over the pun, she described her multi-media assemblages "as a way to do a portrait over time."

They are usually representative of long-term relationships, she said, "so I wouldn't go to the junk drawer to get the pieces."

She starts with a working title. "From there, I really feel things come to me," she said. "My brain is always cooking. I notice things I can use to represent the idea."

One of the 15 clocks she has created during the last 12 years is on display at the Maryland Art Federation Gallery in Annapolis. She calls it "Eye of the Beholder, the Art of the Found Object."

Her latest clock is entitled, "When You're Blessed It Feels Like Heaven."

She put it together this summer. It is now on display in the Maryland Art Education Association Members' Exhibit at the Towson Arts Collective gallery, 406 York Road, through Dec. 9.

Diane Margiotta, who helped curate the juried exhibit, is familiar with Popp's work. 

"Linda has inspired me ... since we met about 10 years ago working on our portfolios for certification in art from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards" said Margiotta, who teaches art in Bryn Mawr's upper school.

"I can look at Linda's intricate, charm-filled sculptures for hours," she said.

"Her clocks are reliquaries that excite my eyes and my heart to the miracles, laughter and mysteries in these captivating portraits of her family," Margiotta said.

Popp said the clock on exhibit at the Arts Collective is a reflection of all the blessings she has had in her life.

"In the process, things can seem to be a crisis, but you realize in time you had to go through the crisis to get to the blessing," she said. "Representing the idea takes creative problem solving: how to get the pieces to all fit together so it doesn't look like a bunch of junk."

Popp translated some of the pieces:

• A photograph of her and a baby in an aluminum frame embellished with an airplane: "My biggest blessing is my daughter, Emma, who is now 19, a sophomore at Maryland Institute College of Art and an unbelievable artist.

"I couldn't have children, it was very difficult to accept that, but I flew to Chile and adopted Emma when she was three months old. She was the child meant for me."

• A tape measure: "We need different ways to measure our success or happiness. It's not always the traditional way. Being a teacher was not in the upper echelon of the pay scale, but I couldn't imagine doing anything else."

• A pressure gauge: "I'm able to just take things as they happen and deal with them. I don't get stressed and I don't explode. I try to figure things out and keep control. That's one of my blessings.

• Dice: "Sometimes it's a crapshoot. You just have go with your faith and do the best you can, and realize if you are working from your heart, your decision will be the correct decision and it will be a blessing."

As an artist, she often doesn't want to make everything clear about her own story, because she wants people to make the connection with their own stories.

A co-worker who came to see the clock recognized its pendulum piece was a cookie cutter. It brought tears to her eyes. Like Popp, she remembered when she was a child and she and her mother used to make cookies together.

Has Popp sold any of her clocks? "Not really," she said. "They're just so personal. I could let some of them go that weren't the family ones, but they wouldn't be cheap. I'd ask $600. Who's going to buy one for $600?"

However, they are functional, she said.

"Every one works."

A showing of art teachers

In addition to Popp's clock, the exhibit at the Arts Collective features the work of eight other county art educators, including Cheryl Milligan, who replaced Popp at Towson High School, and six retired county art educators.

In the competition aspect of the juried show, Stewart Emmerich, visual arts teacher at Vincent Farm Elementary School, won Best of Show, and Katie Gutwald, visual arts teacher at Mars Estates Elementary School, received an Award of Excellence.

Exhibitors include Joel Thornton (New Town High and Stemmers Run Middle schools); Grace Hulse (Orems Elementary School); Joanne Bare (Hereford High School); Ryan Twentey, (Parkville High School); and retirees Mike Shupe, Duane Sabiston, Bruno Baron, Riselle Abrams and Katie Rickman.

Towson Arts Collective gallery hours are Thursday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. For details, go to http://www.towsonartscollective.org or call 410-916-6340.