Born and raised in the Hamilton-Burlington area as well as in Sudbury, Rick taught for 30 years for the Halton Board of Education in both elementary and secondary schools. He spent 20 of those years teaching Art for grades 2 to 13, as well as photography and computer graphics at the secondary level.

Since 1980, he has worked with a variety of media including pencil, ink, watercolour, and over a long period, acrylics. In 2017, the switch was made to oils. In 2022, Rick was granted signature status with the Federation of Canadian Artists.

The artist took part in the juried exhibits held at McMaster Innovation Park, and in annual shows in Burlington Art Gallery and Visual Arts Mississauga. His works were shown in recent exhibits hosted by the Society of Canadian Artists, the Federation of Canadian Artists, and the Federation of Canadian Artist-Toronto chapter. Rick participated in art shows & events including the Dundas Valley School of Art Annual Auction, The Little Black Frame Event, and The Pelham Arts Festival, where his painting, ‘The Watcher’ won the Best Landscape award in the 2022 show.