Artist Clay Rice to visit Museum of Coastal Carolina

Description

Internationally known artist Clay Rice will be at the Museum of Coastal Carolina on June 13 when the Museum officially opens its new Coastal Gallery. The Gallery’s opening exhibit will include silhouette art by Clay Rice and his grandfather, Carew Rice.

Carew Rice was born near Walterboro, SC in 1898. In the 1920’s, he discovered a way to combine his love of nature with his love of art. An offhand remark by a college art professor led him to purchase some sharp scissors and some construction paper. That evening, he began cutting out simple shapes of animals and birds that quickly became more and more complex. “I knew right then I had found the thing I had been longing and seeking to find—a way to clearly and definitively express my ideas in art,” he later recalled. From then until his death in 1971, Carew Rice was well known for his intricate and beautiful images of the South that included wildlife, boys casting nets in tidal creeks, and even moonshiners.

Clay Rice, Carew Rice’s grandson, has carried on his grandfather’s legacy by creating detailed landscape silhouettes that are prized by collectors throughout the world. Clay Rice is considered by many to be one of the finest silhouette artists in the country. He is also renowned as a singer/songwriter and is the author of prize-winning children’s books. Two of his books are available at the Museum’s gift shop; Mr. Rice will be happy to autograph your purchase.

Mr. Rice will tell stories, play his guitar, and sing from 11:00 to noon on June 13. In addition, he will be available all day if you would like him to create a silhouette of your child or grandchild. It takes him approximately 5 minutes to complete a silhouette. Appointments for silhouettes must be booked in advance by calling 910-579-1016. The cost is $42 per person for two copies of the same silhouette; $10 for additional copies. Frames and mats are extra.