Check Out Sarah Rice’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Rice

Hi Sarah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started my art career officially in 2020. Iv always loved art but decided to make it my full time career when I grew overworked from my product production company that I started back in 2017. It was a very difficult decision to close my company that I was so proud of to peruse my true passion. At first I was searching for my style of artwork, but Once I started to draw my inspiration from Hawaii, where I grew up, it formed quickly. I grew some attention to my artwork in Portland Oregon where I sold my first piece for $26,000. That gave me the motivation, and confidence to stick to my large scale pieces and keep creating what I love so others could enjoy my work. I made the decision to move to LA to grow my art career further (and get back to the palm trees that I missed). I draw all of my inspiration for my style from the island I grew up on. Japanese culture is prominent on the islands and has always been my favorite culture. Waves can represent so many things, to me not only do they give credit to my upbringing on the big island, but have become my way to portray to my audience my “mantra”. All my artwork symbolizes moments in life of either happiness or struggle.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
When I first found the style that I wanted to stick with and felt most like me, I struggled with price points and the size of my pieces. I knew the value of my work and the hours upon hours that went into making one piece, so I had to make a decision of which price point I wanted to be in. I only wanted my artwork to be owned by people who loved collecting art and appreciate where it comes from and the significance each piece has. True art lovers. My style looks best in a very large scale, which I preferred anyway because my favorite art is that which is the “main character” in the room. The other main struggle was the choice to close my company that I worked hard to build, and take a chance at what I really wanted to do. It was terrifying. Starting a business has SO many ups and downs, scary moments and stressful moments that I was less afraid of failure. I had struggled a lot in the beginning of starting my product production business, which made the thought of having to start again much much easier, so I took that leap of faith!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My artwork is pen on paper. Small individual line strokes that make up my completed piece. All of my pieces are ocean scapes, with Japanese and Hawaiian infusion into the style. I focus on large scale, I don’t draw anything smaller than 4 feet by 5 feet. I’m most proud of my largest pieces. The largest being 6 feet tall and 15 feet in length. My artwork is unique in not only the scale but its presentation. It’s traditional Japanese style mixed with my own. It’s really striking to see in person and like nothing Iv seen yet. I don’t think people realize the significance of a piece until they see it in person. The time it takes me to complete a piece is weeks if not a couple of months, working 4 – 6 hour days. Every line stroke has to be perfect. I am OCD so I can’t have even slightly sloppy pen work, which adds to the time put into each piece and it’s finished look.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I love the idea of collaborating with other artists to make a mixed piece! I have so much respect for different styles that show the inner thinking of other artists, I have always wanted to do a collab piece with a style completely different than mine no matter the medium they work with.

Pricing:

• Price per square foot is $1,500.00 (unframed)
• My pieces start at $20,000 and go up from there.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Hawaiirice.com
• Instagram: @hawaiirice
• Facebook: Phone: 208-449-2661