Jungle Drums Gallery — Attraction in Florida

Jim Mazzotta's phenomenal works of art, appearing on T-shirts featuring lyrics to Jimmy Buffett songs, were my gateway drug into all things Buffett, Pirate, Parrot, and what later became the Margaritaville scene. I began searching online for the actual artist of these fantastic designs. Who was the artist that created the ocean and island life scenes of pirates, ships, parrots, lizards, and lovers? "Caribbean Soul" searches were somewhat fruitless as that brand name is used by many businesses now, and the original clothing brand hasn't been around for over 20 years. After many unsuccessful searches, I finally found an old online blog that referenced "the two Jimmy's shirts," as Jim Mazzotta's art and Jimmy Buffett's lyrics. I finally had a name! That led me to an art gallery website, which led me to Jim Mazzotta's Instagram page, and then to his own art gallery's website. The results of my searches proved far more magical than I had imagined. Jim Mazzotta and his wife, Kathleen, continue to create incredible works of art which are on display in their Jungle Drums Art Gallery on Captiva Island, and on Jim's Instagram page. I sent an email to the gallery explaining some of the above and asked about purchasing items my wife and I found on the website. Much to my surprise, and excitement, I received a response from Jim himself, saying he was glad I found him. I ordered Jim Mazzotta’s book, “Illustrated Escapes, a Visual Journey,” which includes terrific stories of his start as a young artist, how he became captivated with coastal and island life, and the story behind those first designs and concepts he and an entrepreneurial T-shirt friend created and pitched to Jimmy Buffett. It's all there, the beginning of the pulp culture style we all fondly know. The pages are full of vibrant photos of Jim's art of that era; thrillingly including many I had never seen. Jim has not only created artwork for many newspapers and Jimmy Buffett merchandise, but also for Disney and Universal Studios. The fact that what started as a search for my all-time favorite T-shirts led to enjoyable correspondence with Jim himself, and a fun conversation with Kathleen while ordering the book, all adds to the adventure. My wife and I have ordered and received some of Jim's works on canvas, already plan on...

The art here is really pretty, there’s lots of different mediums (metal, pottery, glass) of art available. But, I found some of the signs to be a bit off-putting. Everywhere you turned there were signs like “if you leave your car it will be towed”, “no food or drinks allowed” “no pictures” “don’t touch” All of those statements and rules make sense, but the sheer volume of those signs (i.e. “don’t touch” under most displays) make me think that they don’t trust their clientele or they frequently have rowdy people in. The other people in my group commented on this as well; all of the warnings just don’t make this place seem friendly; one or two signs per request would...

Beautiful artwork but horrible customer service. I wanted a piece of the art and didn’t buy it from this gallery because of the interaction with the owner was disappointing. I did return to buy the piece twice but the store was closed (very strange hours). I found the same exact piece for thirty-five percent less at another store in Fort Myers so I’m thankful for their rudeness and strange hours after all. A tip to the owners, you never know who’s about to drop some cash, so treat everyone...