You know you’re close to something unusual when you see the gigantic white tooth plunked down amid shops and light industry.

That man helping a girl ride a bike is frozen in time and space, rigid but realistic.

That huge white horselike creature is taller than the telephone poles.  If you are passing through New Jersey on Route 95 and need a break, the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton (www.groundsforsculpture.org) will give your kids a laugh, give you something to think about and provide a delightful place to lunch as well.

Established at the old New Jersey fairgrounds in 1989, the multiple exhibits, both indoors and out, seem to share a love of nature and a certain playfulness that is captivating to the unsophisticated viewer. On a recent gorgeous October afternoon, the main information center, a huge former exhibit hall dating from the 1920s, housed a collection of over 100 bobo-doll style inflatables, each with the identical power-dressed businessman, complete with geeky glasses. Next to that was a series of ceramic globs reminiscent of huge animal tracks.

A leisurely walk through the grounds reveals not only more fascinating shapes, some light-hearted, others more awe-inspiring, but also a deep concern with the connection between nature and art. Everywhere you turn, surrounding the artworks are exotic plants, comfortably rooted to form secluded walks and alleyways or sprouting colorfully out of reflecting pools. A variegated Himalayan pine sways in the breeze near a weeping purple beech. Nearby, a giant high chair is elevated above the treetops, and a ladder leads to a giant flower pot (although visitors are instructed not to climb on the artwork).

Materials often echo the natural setting. Stones, water, ropes tie the artists’- conceptions to the bushes and ponds. A bunch of young trees tied together leaves the viewer wondering, art or gardening?

The facility —- I hesitate to call it a museum —- was founded by J. Seward Johnson (www.sewardjohnson.com), heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune and himself a painter and sculptor. After a lifetime of painting, Johnson began molding lifelike bronzes that now dot not just his home town of Princeton but also New York, Washington, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Paris, London, Osaka and even Istanbul. Recently he began giving them lifelike colors, using unique paints he developed himself, similar to the paint on airplanes and equally weather resistant. Reportedly, Johnson likes to stroll the grounds incognito, making disparaging remarks to see what response he will evoke in visitors.

In part, the Grounds for Sculpture provide a complement to the nearby Johnson Atelier, which Johnson founded in 1974 to serve sculptors and students. Through the apprentice system, established artists get young sculptors to help with welding, rubbing and other jobs. On evenings and weekends, these 20-something young people, most with recent art degrees, get to work on their own projects. And some of their work may turn up in the Grounds for Sculpture.

That emphasis on education is continued through an artist’s lecture series and various other educational events, including a concert series, hosted by the Grounds. But one feels it is a place that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Even the restaurants carry the bright, whimsical feel. Kafe Kabul (www.ratsrestaurant.org/kafekabul), according to its menu, “celebrates the exotic ambiance and indomitable spirit of ancient Kabul and the rising Kabul of today.” Bright orange patterned tablecloths, vibrant blue glasses in which ice looks like chunks of neon light, and glowing multicolored salt and pepper shakers catch the tone of much of the art outside. “Rats,” the acclaimed and pricy larger dining room (www.ratsrestaurant.org) substitutes shining wood for the orange cloths, but keeps the bright glass.

The Kafe menu, despite its claim to Afghanistan, is peppered with French, and indeed the waiter asked if we wanted “pommes frites” (French fries to some of us). The food was inviting, and lunch for two with a drink apiece came out under $40.

Strolling back to the car, one passes a large pond, on which float real ducks and also an artist’s rendering of same. Above it floats a mist of steam that only slightly obscures a giant figure draped only in a towel. Two lifelike boaters from a bygone era hold hands, and a table permanently set with an elegant meal cries out for photo ops. One feels it is a world that combines fantasy with the best of reality — but isn’t that what art is for?

Happy Traveling!

Photos: Victorian boaters, businessman bozo dolls, Kafe Kabul, a reflecting pool, the pond outside of the restaurants, a whimsical shepherd.