A "Touristy" Orlando Place I Miss Very Much

Our house is filled with SO MUCH art. 

These are my most recent addition. They are by an artist named Jellykoe who we discovered at a spot in Orlando that I really miss!

Recently, as I've felt more comfortable with myself and in my space, I've started putting it up where ever I want to. 

It's not perfectly arranged in a grid. 

Nothing is themed. (except my Third Man Records corner, but that's another blog post). 

The art is a mix of professional and amateur and I love it all. There is so much more that we haven't displayed yet, but I'm making wall space blank that will soon be bursting with creativity!

Art has always been something I've loved, but growing up I never felt that it was accessible to me. Like, I would go to museums and love seeing the art there, but it was all too expensive and I didn't know anywhere else to seek out art. 

Look, I grew up in a tiny town in Georgia and my only art exposure was the High Museum (which I adored, of course). And then, my first marriage was art barren... blank white walls with no art ever the entire time I lived there. So I led an art-sheltered life. 

When I moved to Orlando, we started going to Universal pretty regularly and one of the highlights of every visit was Piq! 

Piq was a gem of a store in Universal City Walk, bursting with vibrant art and fun quirky products. Lots of neat books and tons of stuffed animals which is always a plus in my books. 

The store was also a huge celebration of art. Well-curated, COOL art. Many of the artists were local, but the team choosing the artists also did an amazing job of bringing in artists from around the world that matched their vibe. 

It's the first time I remember falling in love with an artist's work... and then buying it. 

I'd been eyeing Crummy Gummy's work since I worked at the Orlando Weekly and he did one of our covers. Back then he was working a lot in the medium of gummi bears, which, of course, spoke to my candy-loving soul. 

So when I saw he was releasing a new four-face figure (with a signing!) at Piq, I knew we had to go. 

That started a very massive collection of Crummy Gummy figures and there's still one that is like the holy grail of art to me. It's the Sugar Fueled (another artist I love) variant and if you own it, please tell me your price and I will buy it from you to complete my collection. 

This is all of them. I do not have a favorite. 

We also discovered the amazing art of Bianca Roman-Stumpf. I think we bought a print of hers every single visit to Piq that we made! This is one of my favorites:

And, while I never scored the Sugar Fueled version of the Four-Faced Figure, we did splurge on this big boi from a show at Crummy Gummy's Downtown Gallery, Redefine Gallery!

What touristy part of Orlando do YOU miss?