My Painted Fire Hydrants -- Finished.

Here are the final results of my painting the street fire hydrants.  I learned a lot!  See the process in my last blog post.



This hydrant is next to an elementary school, 
and the kids would come and talk to me during their recess and tell me their pet stories.



This hydrant is next to a great Tapas bar called "Fonda."  
The bottom of the hydrant reads "Follow the road to Albany."




My bike helmet matches my hydrant!





This hydrant was the hardest because of all the layers of colors and shapes.  
Each color takes 24 hours to dry, so painting one color top of another took a lot of planning.

~

This is my favorite because I like to add humor and introspection into art and I also like words.
The flowers were painted using a kitchen sponge and handmade stencil.

 

My instructions from the city is that I should not paint the caps (green ones)
 because the colors are a code that tells the fire department
how many gallons of water is in each type of hydrant. 



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14 comments:

Patti said...

These are soooo fun!

Joanne Roberts said...

they look great! Thanks for sharing! I can imagine everyone smiling as they walk past. We still have old horse posts where I live and someone decided to knit them all jackets. I love driving or walking past them and seeing them with a smile!
Jo

Jude said...

These are wonderful. I am very inspired by your monthly tradition with your friend to look for art grants.

Unknown said...

Really fun Kate!

Kate Harper said...

I always wondered how great it would be to have one piece of art for every piece of advertising that clutters our visual field. Imagine how different the world would look!

Lance Klass said...

These are just brilliant. And the fire department is really OK with it? These should be all over the country.

Steve Haskamp said...

They look great, Kate! I look forward to seeing them in person as I stroll along the streets of Albany.

Judy Mintz said...

How wonderful! I wish you would come here and do that. They're really adorable.

V. Thompson said...

Very cute. Did you have to prime surface before painting? Also, when it's time for a touch-up, will you becoming around again or shall the next generation be inspired to follow-up? If so, I hope you left instruction behind!

Annette Maxwell said...

Wonderful! I love them! You are so talented!

Kate Harper said...

V. Thompson-yes I did prime them. Regarding touch-up, I have no idea...maybe another artist will take on the project down the road.

Deanna Amirante said...

Love them! They are really cute and colorful

Joan Beiriger said...

Love your art Kate! We have an ongoing art project in Livermore on painting public utility boxes that are much larger than hydrants. But after you said how much work it is to do the hydrants I decided not to apply :)

Lara said...

Love the friendly cat :)