Page 37 - South Mississippi Living - December, 2015

OPPOSITE PAGE: The Reef Wall is coming to life by artist Marty Wilson, pictured with The Reef owners Denis Trochesset and Rob Stinson. ABOVE TOP: Marty Wilson as he paints this breathtaking mural. ABOVE: The lift bucket has been crucial in this project since most of the walls start at 12 feet off the ground.
The Reef Restaurant
1749 Beach Blvd., Biloxi 228.206.7075
signature Big Mo, a Nassau grouper he hand fed while diving off Cozumel 20 years ago. A hawksbill sea turtle that appears to be swimming right out of the mural has been created on the section of wall that hides the elevator, so it’s closest to the ground.
“That will be a wonderful photo op when the families and children walk by,” Stinson said. The mural Wilson created is appropriate for The Reef since it’s a seafood restaurant. Stinson buys fresh seafood from the Gulf to serve to his customers, and both he and Wilson have supported the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources’ efforts to promote local caught seafood.
Wilson has a story about each species represented in the painting, how important it is to the Gulf of Mexico and if it’s endangered or not and why.
Because the mural was considered a sign, it had to be approved by the Biloxi Planning Commission. The Reef opened in October 2014, but it wasn’t until the following spring that Stinson and Wilson went through the city permitting process and got the go-ahead for the mural project.
Wilson used an exterior industrial acrylic paint that has a clear coat with UV inhibiters. It is the same paint used on rides at
Walt Disney World. His mural was graphed on a smaller scale and then projected onto the restaurant’s north wall made up of 4-by 8-foot sheets of cement board siding. Since a majority of the wall starts at 12 feet off the ground, Wilson worked strapped into a lift bucket.
“The first two weeks I painted, I put in about 70 hours,” Wilson said.
Throughout the summer, he endured the challenges of creating the mural in bright sunlight, hot temperatures and thunderstorms that would blow in from the south. He had support along the way from Stinson’s staff.
“I had a lot of help, but Lawrence DeMonaco would drive my lift so I could just focus on painting. He was there every day,” Wilson said.
He added, “It was so heart-warming to hear compliments on a daily basis while I was working on the mural. I had people yelling at me from the ground while I was up on the lift; they were not shy about talking.”
Once completed, the mural will get three coats of UV protected clear gloss.
In addition to The Reef, Stinson owns neighboring Beach Boulevard restaurants Beach Bums and Baja Beach. In Gulfport, he has the Lookout Steakhouse, Kelly’s and Salute.
Wilson has successfully combined his talents as a marine artist and a fisherman with his beliefs in conservation. He is in the process
of establishing the Marty Wilson Foundation, One Gulf One Goal. Some of the proceeds from the sale of The Reef mural T-shirts will help fund the foundation.
“Marty and I have a wonderful friendship. This mural he created is a real focus for people from all over to see and enjoy,” Stinson said.
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