Painshill Grotto

Open for business this year. . .Painshill Grotto. Enjoy your Halloween festivities with us. Skel & Sons Grotto UnderKeepers.

Warning there are many pictures.
So Painshill Grotto is completed for this year. I say that so you will know that I plan on adding to it as the years go on.
Also. . .these pictures have been an excercise in my photography skills so please bare with me. I have just learned how to decrease the shutter speed to the point that I can take in the dark or low lighting pics. AND I used the tripod so I wouldn't wiggle while the shutter was open.

Here we go.

The Autumn side of the scene has been done for a while now. I have added the pile of leaves and the gate to the fence.


On the other side of the fence is the Halloween Carnival, we'll get to that next.




Note the Gate and the Tree.arrows pointing at them The tree is the favorite figure of Grandson Emery. He is only 2 and still he knows that the "man fell into the tree".



Now for the Carnival, this is taken in the actual lighting. So you see the Gypsy looking into her crystal ball. Someone selling pumpkins, Children bobbing for apples and of course all the ghosts are out in force. Note I have created a path and the plants along the front edge. You will also see the hillside to the Grotto in the background on the right side. and the beginning of the skull fence.





Now for the Grotto. This is actually in 7 pieces. So I can set it up with the sides open like a book. . .. or closed in this case. You view the Grotto from the front where there are two semi circle fences made with skulls. And a Scull Gate. Here are two pictures one is with Grotto lights OFF (I'll explain later)



And with Grotto Lights ON



The Grotto is painted with Glow in the Dark paint. So it has a slight yellowy/green cast to it in daylight and then at night looks like the pic above.
When I built the Grotto I used a box knowing I would be hiding small Rice Lights inside. I drilled holes in the "ceiling" of the Grotto and pushed the Rice lights through. They are Blue in color. Let me tell you this was a tedious task but I LOVE THE EFFECT.

OK. . .onto the Skull Fence. Our grape arbor was trimmed down for the winter (or should I say Jerry HACKED it down). After I got over my mad. . .I went out there and salvaged what few vines I could and let them dry. Some are old enough to have what appears to be BARK on them. Great texture.
I found at Rite-Aid a Skull Bracelet with plastic beads. They were 70% off. So I bought all 6 at 43 each. My only problem was the HOLE for the bead was in the top of the skull and I need them to be ear to ear. So out come the handy Dremel tool and I drilled them myself. I then used the florist wire I had handy and "Wove" the fence and glued it on to the semi circle mounds I created. Voila! Skull Fences.



Now for what is ontop of the Grotto.
Another Thrift store find that made me giggle all the way home was a replica of Haggrad's house in Harry Potter. It has changing lights and sound effects.
I also found at Rite-Aid at 70% off a garland of skeleton's. They are made of plastic and were "stiff". So I performed surgery and "un-stuck" them. I created some animated figures.
There is the Trumpet player ( I found an old brooch that was a trumpet and the scale was perfect.
The "Hear No Evil" "See No Evil" and "Speak No Evil" trio are all sitting on the cliff edge to the Grotto. As well as a hanging Skeleton.





Now for the inside of the Grotto. At this time there is only one major figure in there. It is of a man climbing a spire while rats (arrows pointing at some of them) and a skeleton are around his feet. There is an open grave with a decaying body in it.
There are also some bones and gravestones around.
I hope to increase the inside of the Grotto next year with more scenes. But this is all I could do this year.
None of my pictures came out of the Hill that is to the right of the Grotto. But it looks good too. I just have to get those lights inside the houses to make it look great.

Here are pics of the whole thing in true light. There was a lot of effort and learnings in this project. Having never tried to Sculpt before I am surprised at my results. As well as the Landscaping.





It took me about 45 hours and $60 in supplies. But alot of the supplies are left over so I can make more. I am not including drying time. This had to be made in stages as I mentioned in previous blogs. I think doing it in Summer is a better idea. You can leave the segments outside to dry in the sun. I had to bake the smaller sections to get them dry enough to pain. The humidity was TERRIBLE.
Now. . . . pondering. . .do I have time to do the same thing for my Christmas village. . .