Shell Grotto

Chantilis had the pleasure and honor of working with Lambert Landscape Company to create this serene sanctuary. The project took Steve Jinks, her right hand, and Connie three months to complete and she enjoyed every minute of it. They used 2-foot, 4-foot, 6-foot and 10-foot ladders and scaffolding to reach all the corners and curves presented by the project. The design was first transferred to the wall in chalk for approval, and then it was drawn in a permanent fashion. The tinted thinset “plaster” was then applied. After that it was shells, shells, shells! We started on the square panels that form the border. Connie was extremely happy when that part of the project was finished. It was a lot of tweezer work in strange positions and angles... Chantilis states, “Sometimes it felt like I was playing Twister.” The wall is concave and domed at the top—this presented many challenging areas! Once the border squares were finished, it was smooth sailing... time consuming... but very smooth and the end result was stunning!