Shopping for art Supplies in Miami

While I do get quite a few art supplies from several online sources, I do love visiting actual brick and mortar stores to check out the full range of offerings if given the option (sadly there is not a single well-stocked art supplies specialty store in the Naples area). Had to drive dad to the Miami Airport earlier today, so I was lucky to fit a couple of interesting stops after dropping him off. Finally was able to check out the enormous and well-stocked Jerry's Artarama Miami store. Got some hard-to-find drawing leads for my 5.6 mm Cretacolor leadholders and my Worther Shorty pencil. As far as I know, this might be the only brick and mortar store that carries the full range of Cretacolor 5.6 mm drawing leads 6-packs. The store is very well-organized, and it is a pleasure to stroll through the aisles loaded with a wide variety of quality art supplies neatly stacked and clearly priced. This was the first time, I was able to appreciate the size and heft of the Caran D'Ache Neocolor II full boxed set of 126 watercolor crayons with extra accessories and the wooden box set of all 72 Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils. If you happen to be in the neighborhood, it is well worth a visit.

On the way back to Naples, I stopped at an enormous Office Depot store in Hialeah right off Palmetto Hwy - 826. With their heavily discounted Red Tag Sale items, I managed to stock up on tons of sketching paper and blank index cards for drawing lesson points for my students. Word to the wise, stop for a few minutes to check for good deals if you happen to drive by one of their stores.