Seattle artists create rain-powered sidewalk paintings

SEATTLE, March 26 (UPI) -- A group of Seattle artists are making the best of the city's famous weather with "Rainworks," sidewalk art that only shows up when it rains.

Peregrine Church, who received a $1,000 grant from The Awesome Project to create his pavement paintings, said he and fellow artists Xack Fischer and Forest Tressider use a superhydrophobic paint called Always Dry Wood & Stone to create sidewalk drawings that are invisible when dry but show up when the rest of the pavement is drenched.

"I started doing this almost exactly a year ago," Church told KOMO-TV. "I've always been interested in novel ways to make the world a more interesting place."

Church said the project has led to a commissioned project at a Lynnwood assisted living facility. "This is sort of turning from a fun thing into a business," he said.

The artists said on their website they want "to make people smile on rainy days."

"It's going to rain no matter what. Why not do something cool with it?" Church said in a video on the site.