In 2022, Mac was commissioned to paint a new mural for R. Shea Brewing’s location in Canal Place. He presented the owner with a range of stylistic options, and then developed the preferred concept as a black-and-white rendering with a range of color options for their preferred budget.

Mac worked on the mural during off-business hours to avoid disrupting customers, and completed the mural in 14 days over a span of 10 weeks. The final design is fully hand-painted, and extends from edge-to-edge across the three walls of the entrance, including around pipes and hardware.

“This kitchen is HAWT" was written by a customer on a note to staff, and saved by the owner. This served as the original point of inspiration for developing the mural. Mac painted a selection of menu items and ingredients for the kitchen’s wall, and used a combination of linear shapes to celebrate R. Shea’s irreverent spirit, pride, and unconventional excellence.

The main entrance wall was reserved for R. Shea’s logo, and was expanded to unify all three walls with rays of light that beam from the left and right. A series of icons were also painted over the top to highlight the brewer’s ingredients, food, beverages, and amenities.

The “Welcome” wall celebrates R. Shea’s brewing process, community, and creative culture. The woman depicted on the wall is inspired by Aleksandr Rodchenko’s untitled portrait of the writer and socialite Lilya Brik. Rodchenko used this photo as an element in the iconic graphic design of his advertisement for Lengiz, and Leningrad-based state publishing house. In that original graphic design, Brik’s profile is embedded in a Constructivist collage with her shout amplifying the slogan “BOOKS in all fields of knowledge.”

Mac chose to use the same profile and angular exclamation to celebrate the diversity of human expression, values, and beliefs that so commonly resonate around the bar and a good beer. The R. Shea logo is also prominently featured on this wall, and captured in an arrowhead-like shape to add energy and momentum to the powerful striped lines that flow and encourage people forward.

Mac started working as a regional sales representative for the Cottrell Brewing Company in 2006. They brewed Cottrell’s signature Old Yankee Ale, and also served as the brewery and bottler for Trinity IPA and Narragansett Triple Bock. It was a great job.

From the very start, he learned that something was wrong with the way large distributors were treating local beers. Seemingly half of Cottrell’s established draft lines across the state of Connecticut had been replaced by Sam Adams, which was a Coors product. This made sense when you realized that our distributor was owners and run by Coors, so there were more incentives for their sales reps to replace local draft lines with corporate. It also made them easy prey.

Mac found that many of the local restaurants, bars, and stores that had previously carried Cottrell had been falsely told it was no longer available. This put him in a position to make quick friends. Advocating for a local beer with no artificial preservatives that tasted better, was fresher, and paired perfectly with local food was an easy win and fun side to be on.

We quickly re-established Cottrell’s foothold across the state, and strongly expanded the brand into Rhode Island. To complement these efforts, Mac designed many of our marketing and events posters to raise awareness and appreciation of our local beer. The brewery has continued to grow over the years and remains a humble and consistent point of excellence in the community.