All cities have their “thing”, if only so that they have something to stick on the t-shirts they sell to tourists. And for Seattle, Washington, that thing is that it rains a lot.

Granted, this is a little depressing, especially when other US cities get taglines like “barbequed pork capital of the world” or “the magic city” . But a street artist has decided to turn Seattle’s dubious hallmark into a virtue by creating art that only shows up when it’s raining.

The pieces are stencilled on to sidewalks across the city using hydrophobic paint, which repels water and so creates a contrast between the painted section and the rest of the sidewalk. Revealing the artwork looks a lot like a magic trick:

Peregrine Church, the works’ creator, says the idea came from a desire to “make the world an interesting place”:

They’re messages or images designed to make people’s rainy day a little bit better… it’s sort of the ideal Seattle art. 

Church estimates that as of this month, there are between 25 and 30 of the pieces scattered around the city, but he wants to make “way more”. Below are a few examples. 

All images courtesy of Rainworks.