Silhouette Artist, Clay Rice, Explores Artwork in New Picture Books

Clay Rice, one of the foremost silhouette artists in the world and grandson of legendary silhouette artist Carew Rice, has released two picture books, completely illustrated using his silhouette art (Familius, May 2013).

In The Lonely Shadow Rice weaves a wonderful tale about a small shadow who has lost his boy and goes in search of him. The shadow sings, "I have no you and you have no me, you and me we have no we, but if I find you and you find me, happy we will always be."

In Mama, Let's Make a Moon Rice creates a beautifully poetic story about a humble mountain family who decide to make a moon from the materials they have available to them. Together with the mountain animals, they create the moon, roll it up the mountain, and hang it in the sky for all to see and enjoy.

Both Mama, Let's Make a Moon and The Lonely Shadow draw upon Rice's talents as a national storyteller, songwriter, and artist.

"A great talent who combines soul and passion," -Pat Conroy

"Moving and intriguing, Mama, Let's Make a Moon is charming and much recommended for picture book collections." -Midwest Book Review

". . . a sweet story of companionship." -Kirkus Reviews

In writing The Lonely Shadow Rice, a song writer in addition to artist, drew from the rhythms of song to create a simple and lyrical story of friendship. To create the highly detailed landscape silhouettes for Mama, Let's Make a Moon, Rice spent many weeks doing field study in the Appalachian Mountains. The story explores core values like family, love, relationships, and making something from nothing.

About the Author: Clay Rice is described by author Pat Conroy as a "great talent who combines soul and passion". Silhouette artistry and storytelling have been in his family for more than 80 years. His grandfather, Carew Rice, was described by Poet Carl Sandburg as "America's Greatest Silhouettist" and traveled worldwide, sharing his mesmerizing cutouts with delighted customers. Each profile silhouette takes Clay about 1 minute and he estimates that in his 32 year career, he has cut over 900,000 silhouettes. Clay's nationwide following has families flocking to have this talented artist create keepsake silhouettes and to have him sign copies of his award-winning children's book, The Lonely Shadow. His work has been featured in Country Living, the Washington Times, the Atlanta Constitution, Cookie Magazine, and has appeared in the CBS series Army Wives. Clay is the recipient of the Moonbeam Children's Book Award and the IPPY Award for Children's Book of the Year. Clay's landscape scenes and children's illustrations are sought after by collectors worldwide and his work is on permanent display at the South Carolina State Museum.

About the Publisher: Familius is a transmedia publisher who publishes for marriage, parenting, family fun, education, health and wellness, and children. The Familius mission is to help families be happy. We connect families with the books, e-books, videos, articles, and apps they need to build successful marriages and families. Let's Talk Family. http://www.familius.com/