Opal’s Love Letter to Key West: The Capitana’s Custom Mural by Southern Florida’s Marine Artist, K.C. Scott
Meet the former pro golfer from Michigan turned renowned Southern Florida marine artist who painted the stunning custom mural for Opal’s new boutique hotel…and the island of Key West.
Ever seen a 25-foot long tarpon? Or a spiny lobster with 10-foot antennae? While it sounds like something spun from the fantastical mind of Herman Melville, these Godzilla-esque ocean creatures are very real at The Capitana Key West. In fact, as you drive up to the portico of Opal’s latest boutique hotel, opened February 2021, they’re the first thing you see, captured in a billboard-sized mural displayed on the hotel’s stark-white exterior. And much like a billboard, it’s actually a digital wrap of the same eight- by 11-foot color painting that hangs in the tropically chic lobby of the hotel.
Painted by K.C. Scott, a West Palm-based artist, the custom pieces, depicting the sea creatures in their natural Florida Keys habitat, weren’t just a commission for the hotel, however. They were also a commission for the island of Key West. That’s because it serves as a contribution – equivalent to $80,000 – to the Key West Art in Public Places program, a local effort to facilitate the creation of new beautiful public works of art for the residents and visitors. That means guests of the hotel don’t just get to enjoy the artworks, but the public is welcome to make a visit to the property to take in the works, too. Think of it kind of like Opal’s homage to the island. And what an homage it is. It looks so realistic, it feels as if you were peeking inside a giant aquarium.
So would you believe us if we told you that the individual who painted the piece has actually zero formal art training? It’s true. In fact, the artist, Michigan-born Kasey Chase “K.C.” Scott, went to college for business, then followed that up with a five-year stint in the PGA as a pro golfer. He even had a locker located right next to Tiger Woods while competing at Flint, Michigan’s Buick Open in 2003. How did he manage to go from wielding clubs to paintbrushes and becoming a world-renowned artist in the process? We sat down with the 41-year-old, who now lives and manages his KScott Signature Gallery in West Palm Beach, to find out.
A Multitalented Man
“While I have no training – besides your basic high school art classes – I was always into drawing from the time I was a kid. Growing up in the small town of Richland, Michigan, I drew everything from local wildlife to Michael Jordan to the latest pair of cool sneakers I wanted. I had a knack for it, but I also had a knack for golf and was given plenty of opportunities to play because my father was the director of golf at a local resort. After earning a degree in business between Michigan State and Barry University in Miami, I started playing golf professionally. I had some highs and lows during my time on the circuit, but eventually, by 2008, I was ready to call it quits – the market had gone sideways, so sponsorships got tight, and I felt myself losing luster for the travel. That summer, while back in Michigan and trying to figure out what to do with my life, I started painting and drawing again.”
Painting Marine Scenes that are True to Life
“There are other artists who paint a similar subject matter as me, and they do a beautiful job. But what I realized pretty quickly is that their pieces weren’t always as accurate or realistic as mine because they don’t have the real-life experiences I do from years of immersing myself in these watery worlds. While I grew up fishing and swimming in a nearby lake in Michigan, every winter, my family traveled to the Keys, where we fished, lobstered, and freedove. From the time I was 6 years old, I was lucky enough to get to spend every daylight hour during my time in the Keys chasing fish; water was always a staple in my life.
Now, thanks to my underwater cameras, I have the ability to capture those experiences and bring them back with me to get the anatomy of the marine life and the details of the scene just right. While I’ll stitch together multiple scenes in my paintings from my shots, they are always borne from some sort of very real reference.”
Building Confidence as An Artist, Losing It, Then Building it Again
“One of the first ‘gigs’ I booked was with Bass Pro Shops, which displayed my art – all sorts of game fish, everything from marlin to sailfish – in their shops. It wasn’t a super lucrative job, but it was exactly what I needed to gain the confidence to really embark on this full-time. Around 2009 or 2010, when I was living in Sarasota, I started doing fishing tournaments and various shows to expose my work to people. At the 2010 Miami Boat Show, I scraped together all the money I had to rent a booth, but then sold only about $400 worth of art, hardly enough to make up for the booth itself. I basically cried my way back to Sarasota. But, get this, I had handed out an entire box of business cards during the event. The next day I started getting calls from people who were at the show and who wanted prints, and it didn’t stop for two weeks. Then, in 2011, I got a random phone call from a guy out in Montana who wanted to commission me for a major painting…offering to pay me several thousand dollars right there on the spot. It was the first time I had ever sold anything that fast; I didn’t even know how to take a payment.”
Meeting the Opal Collection
“My first introduction to Opal Collection was back in 2011 when I first met one of the figureheads with the family behind the brand at a sailfish tourney where I was displaying my work. He bought one of my prints and we started chatting (turns out, that print ended up being hung in one of the collection’s affiliate restaurants, 50 Ocean, in Delray Beach). I didn’t see him again until about four years later, in St. Thomas, where I was serving as an observer in a fishing tournament. Then next thing I know, I was getting to know the entire family who have become close friends, as well as the interior designer for the brand. Today, my prints are on display at other Opal resorts and hotels, including Hutchinson Shores Resort & Spa on Jensen Beach, Zota Beach Resort and Lido Beach Resort in Sarasota, Sandpearl Resort in Clearwater Beach; and The Laureate Key West in, you guessed it, Key West.”
His Custom Piece for The Capitana Key West
“What sets this piece apart from others you’ll see in Opal resorts is that it’s not a print but a custom piece. The painted piece, sizing in at eight by 11 feet, is on display in the tropically chic lobby, then a black-and-white 25- by 32-foot digital wrap of the same painting hangs on the exterior of the hotel, where it greets guests right near the entrance. As for the subject, I wanted to paint something that played off the hotel’s shipwreck motif, but that also felt very ‘Key West’ to me. And what’s more Key West than Caribbean lobster and tarpon? It took me roughly two months to paint – longer if I had done it in oils, but I used acrylics. I started working on it right around the time my second child was due, so when I finally saw it installed, I felt a little bit like I had had two new babies.”
See more of K.C. Scott’s work at:
Where to Stay The Capitana Key West
