By: Amanda Trimm & Makara Sernett
We first met Makara when she and her husband Patrick came to the brewery to support us during the pandemic shutdown when we were limited to beer to-go sales only. Since Patrick is active military, they have lived all over the U.S. and the world including Alaska and South Korea, but envision Georgetown to be their ideal location to put down roots. She made the purposeful decision several years ago to follow her passion and start a business doing what she loves – art. Makara’s art studio, Play with Pigments, showcases a variety of paintings using acrylics and watercolors, and she also teaches mobile paint parties and workshops around town. You may have seen her beautiful coloring pages around Georgetown, which she was giving away for free as a fun quarantine activity. After all, coloring while enjoying a nice cold, craft beer can be quite therapeutic. Adding another piece of art in addition to the BarKing Armadillo on our exterior (painted by another local artist, Sarah Blankenship) was something we always envisioned, and as we were able to open up, we thought it would be a great time to add more character to the taproom. Makara welcomed the challenge as she was looking into experimenting with more art mediums and getting more involved in the local community. The only instructions we gave her were to incorporate the 4 ingredients of beer (water, hops, grain, yeast) and let her creative mind fly with the rest. In her words,
Even before I was asked to help with the mural, conversations with partners at Barking Armadillo made it clear to me that they wanted the brewery to be your local neighborhood brewery for everyone to gather and be comfortable. So when it was time to design the mural, we agreed that the mural should have the context of Georgetown, while highlighting the ingredients of beer. To that end, I planned for a neighborhood scene showcasing some on-theme visual elements and imagery of the town to tie it all together.
The centerpiece of the design is the Barking Armadillo signature tulip glass and the water tower found on Williams Drive where the brewery is located. The scene has buildings reminiscent of Georgetown’s historic downtown but it could also be somewhere in Europe if your wanderlust heart desires. The landscape features hop trees and wheat trees to complement the water in the water tower and bubbles in the tulip glass (representing yeast) to tie in the theme of ingredients for making beer. And as the proverbial cherry on top, there are benches and even a bike for our little neighbors to use while hanging out in our imaginary neighborhood.
To highlight the woodsy and natural hand-made feel of the taproom I kept the design clean and neat for visual contrast. I set out to paint the design on the wall as if a computer had printed it. I have to admit, it took a lot of time. The scaling and drafting alone required immense attention to detail – there were so many small lines! But it was so worth it to get the lines and leveling just right prior to precise painting. So when you walk in, you’ll wonder if the mural was in fact hand painted. I guess you’ll have to come take a closer look!”
Have you had the chance to check out the mural in person? Let us know what you think!
Favorite beer style: Hefeweizens
Favorite BA Beer: Small batch peach Hefeweizen (no longer available) and Barktoberfest
