Sunday, January 13th, 2019 Pam and I met grandchildren Soraya and Taj at McKee Botanical Gardens, Vero Beach for the day. Pam had found the gardens as a suitable “half-way point” meeting place between Cocoa Beach, our winter haven, and Jupiter were the grandchildren lived. The meeting turned out as an inflection point in for us and the featured Artist.
As you can infer from his “dates”, John Seward Johnson II (April 16, 1930 – March 10, 2020) passed away the next year. Best known as “Seward Johnson”, he was a grandson of Robert Wood Johnson I, the co-founder of Johnson & Johnson, and of Colonel Thomas Melville Dill of Bermuda, Mr Johnson was an American artist who created trompe-l’œil painted bronze statues. He designed life-size bronze statues that were castings of living people, depicting them engaged in day-to-day activities.
A large staff of technicians did the fabrication of the works he designed. Computers and digital technology often were used in the manufacturing process.
Sometimes the manufacture was contracted in China. He was the founder of “Grounds For Sculpture”, a 42-acre sculpture park and museum located in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey.
After this both Soraya and Taj’s moved on in their lives, branching out from their Jupiter, Florida roots. Both stay in touch.
Click me for a dinosaur at McKee Gardens, Protoceratops, a caring parent (?)
Michael Stephen Wills Photography 
Having visited the Grounds for Sculpture a number of times, it was not unusual to find Seward Johnson wandering the park chatting with visitors. He also used to lead sing-a-longs with park guests at the restaurant on the grounds. He was a friendly, personable man. https://offtheleash.net/2020/03/14/rip-seward-johnson-sculpture-larger-than-life/
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Thanks for this, Ken. New Jersey was Seward Johnson’s “stomping grounds,” also his birthplace.
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