My friend Betsy and I decided we were in a rut and needed to get out of town more often.  So we promised each other we would go on one adventure every month.  Our first was a trip to the Grounds for Sculpture near Trenton, NJ.  We set out on the New Jersey Turnpike, which is an adventure in itself, and arrived at this spectacular 35-acre spread of gorgeous landscape and 200+ giant outdoor sculptures.  It’s well worth a trip if you’re anywhere in the vicinity.   Here are some pix to prove it:

The Loch Ness monster greeted us as we began our wanderings.  That’s not its real title, of course, but what I love about modern sculpture is that you can interpret it any way you want to.

Another cool installation in water was this head.  The mist is artifically created by water jets.  Her name is Leucantha by Philip Grausman.

My friend Betsy is a garden writer so she especially appreciated the landscaping the sculptures were placed in.  She really opened my eyes to the incredible creativity of the plant design.  You see how the plantings echo and accentuate this sculpture’s lines? 

I had just been into New York City to see the Monet exhibit at the Gagosian Gallery (free!  I recommend it too!) so I was struck by these real waterlilies growing by Rat’s Restaurant, which is situated in the Grounds, and where we had a yummy lunch.

Here I am participating in a sculpture called Were You Invited?  It’s a boating party from Renoir’s painting.  Most of the sculptures invite you to touch them.  One even has drumsticks attached so you can play it!

I felt very in-the-know when I saw the horse below and said, “Hey, I’ve seen this artist’s work before…outside the Denver Airport.”  Luis Jimenez’s style is pretty distinctive, especially since his horse’s eyes always glow.  I remembered the giant horse from Denver in particular because it wasn’t a popular installation there.  People thought it looked evil and threatening.  What do you think?

I have LOTS more pictures but I think you’ve gotten a good idea of what a great place this is.  Thank you, J. Seward Johnson, for creating such a gorgeous venue, and letting us stroll through it at our leisure!