Photo by Mic Smith
Clay Rice
AGE: 58
CLAIMS TO FAME: Children’s author, silhouette artist, songwriter/musician
HAILS FROM: Grew up in Myrtle Beach and historic Charleston, and often visited his grandfather in the ACE Basin, where he still likes to escape. Currently lives on Isle of Palms with his wife and kids. Clay Rice’s early lessons in the exacting art of silhouettes came from a master.
LATEST WORKS: Ants ’n’ Uncles (2016); The Stick (2014); Mama, Let’s Make a Moon (2013); The Lonely Shadow (2010).
AN UNEXPECTED TURN: A ballet company in Tacoma, Washington, did a production inspired by The Stick. “That was quite an honor.”
Clay Rice’s early lessons in the exacting art of silhouettes came from a master.
His grandfather, Carew Rice, started his career in the Depression and spent four decades cutting silhouette portraits, landscapes and insightful scenes of Lowcountry life, a legacy of work that became treasured around the South.
Growing up in the 1960s, Clay frequently stayed at the Rice family homestead on the Chehaw River, where his grandfather showed him how to cut simple shapes, like barnyard animals. “He was such a character, which is what made me pick up the scissors, you know. He looked like he was having so much fun with them.”
As lighthearted as his grandfather came across, he was “relentless” in pursuing perfection in silhouettes, something Rice sought to emulate as he established his own successful career as an artist. Yet, he also looked for ways to set himself apart. “I saw early on that if I wanted to step out of his shadow, I had to go a different direction and use some of my other talents.”
Rice tried his luck in Nashville as a songwriter as a young man, only to return to South Carolina and silhouettes as his mainstay. In more recent years, though, he has married his lyrical abilities with intricate illustrations to create distinctive children’s books. His debut effort in 2010, The Lonely Shadow, won two major book awards, and his fifth title is on the way.
While each has its own personality, they share common themes celebrating resilience and creativity. For Rice, the books have become one of his most meaningful pursuits. “You feel like you’re making more of an impact, something that will outlive you.”
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Follow Silhouettes by Clay Rice on Facebook for his appearances. Learn about the work of Clay Rice and his grandfather, Carew Rice, at ricegalleries.com.