Tag Archives: street piano

Piano Time – Alice in Wonderland – Piano Street Art Finished!

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Heather Carr Alice in Wonderland street art piano mad hatter painting

I finished the Alice In Wonderland piano for Shoreline, WA’s Piano Time street art project on July 30th.  I did the project in under 2 weeks.  There are things I would have liked to add that I simply did not have time to incorporate.  And I ran into some trouble when I began to apply the varnish.  Despite priming, I still saw the piano stain seep through in a few spots.  UGH.  That was aggravating!  But overall, I’m thrilled with it.

Heather Carr piano painting wonderland street art

Heather Carr Alice in Wonderland tea party piano street art painting

I’m in awe of how much I accomplished in such a short time, especially because I’m really happy with the finished piece.  It took summer camps and grandparents in babysitting overdrive, for me to have enough time to work.  It makes a difference when I can work for several hours uninterrupted, and really get into the process.

below are images from the sides of the piano:

Heather Carr Alice in Wonderland street art piano Shoreline painting

Heather Carr Alice in Wonderland street art piano Shoreline painting

SInce the project ended, my children have both been home more or less full-time, and I’ve had a million ideas swirling in my head, but nothing has made it to a canvas.  It is killing me a bit… I may lose my head!  Believe me, I’m counting down the days until school starts!

the tea party and the piano closed (I had a design for the closed lid, but ran out of time – bummer!)  oh, and thank you to the Graphics Fairy for the vintage chair backs!:

Heather Carr Alice in Wonderland street art piano Shoreline painting tea party

more details from the piano – drawer knob mushrooms, flamingo croquet piano bench legs, Play Me music stand, Cheshire eye:

Heather Carr Alice in Wonderland street art piano Shoreline painting play me

I decorated all of the piano legs with bottles and hearts, (10 sides total):

Heather Carr Alice in Wonderland street art piano Shoreline painting drink me

smile!

Heather Carr Alice in Wonderland street art piano Shoreline painting

Every time I’ve stopped by Central Market, I’ve witnessed impromptu concerts.  I’ve loved hearing feedback from employees and passers-by.  This project’s been so much fun! Here’s a little snippet of a performance by Beinuo Gong, who was returning to China soon after her concert.  Thank you, Beinuo!  (P.S. sorry about the squeaking grocery carts! lol…)

If you’d like to see other posts I did on this process, check these out:

Alice in Wonderland Street Piano Progress 1

Alice in Wonderland Street Piano Progress 2

Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter Doodles

Alice in Wonderland Brainstorming Doodles

Alice in Wonderland – Street Art Piano – Work in Progress – Shoreline, WA

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Heather Carr Xe3ep Xezep alice in wonderland piano work in progress painting street art

Last week I volunteered to paint a 1938 Wurlitzer piano for the City of Shoreline’s street piano project.  I was hoping for a really tall upright piano, because they have nice large flat panels for painting,  but everyone wanted one of the few tall ones that were available, so I decided I’d give this one a shot.  I had to reconsider some of my design ideas because its surfaces are very different, but I’m having a blast with it!  Plus, mine came with a bench and an accordion-style keyboard cover, that has some interesting possibilities.

Before:Heather Carr

Primed and ready for paint:

Heather Carr

If you’ve ever thought about painting a piano, don’t forget the prep work!  I would have liked to… it’s a very forgettable experience.  It took me and my lovely assistant (thanks mom!) two days to sand and prime the piano.   I would have loved to skip this part, but didn’t for two reasons.  One, the paint wouldn’t adhere well to the varnish, and two, I didn’t want the piano stain to bleed into my painting.  For anyone interested in doing this, I used 220 grit sand paper and Glidden Gripper Primer.

Now for the fun part!

Heather Carr Xe3ep Xezep street art piano shoreline work in progress alice in wonderland cheshire cat eyes grin

I only have about a week’s worth of time to get this done, due to my family’s summer schedule, but I’d devote every waking minute to it if I could.

Heather Carr Xezep Xe3ep Alice in Wonderland street art piano work in progress shoreline

There are some unique challenges painting a piano.  It’s not easy to squeeze underneath the keyboard to paint, and drawing on a vertical surface, just inches off the floor is no easy feat either.  While working on backs of the legs I discovered that my paint brushes are sometimes tooooo long and don’t fit!  Anything that I could detach I removed and took home to spray paint.  The clocks and lace above, are going to become the backdrop for a tea party if all goes well!

Heather Carr Xezep Xe3ep Alice in Wonderland street art piano work in progress drink me shoreline mushrooms

I love the space we are working in.  It would make a nice studio.  We are in a storefront of a former hardware store in the Richmond Beach Shopping Center.  I’m working right up next the window.  Lots of people come by to watch us paint, and stop in to ask questions.  A professional house painter came in and critiqued my primer brush-stroke techniques – ha! and the mayor even stopped by to say hello!

Heather Carr street art piano alice in wonderland richmond beach shopping center

I’ll post more progress photos soon!  The pianos will be finished July 31, and will be on display starting August 2nd.  Mine will be on display under an awning outside of Central Market.  I’m really pleased with the venue, because there’s so much foot traffic there, and it’s an awesome market!