Richard ‘Rick’ Moreno graduated at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, California.
In 1972 Rick received the Bank of America art award upon graduation. At Gavilan Junior College in Gilroy, CA. Rick studied Humanities, where he focused in fine art, Mexican folkloric dance, music, sculpture and ceramics. In 1978 Rick received a grant from the United States National Endowment for the Arts to study the Violin Huasteco. During these times Rick began studying the ancient cultures of Mexico. In 1973 Rick experienced a summer semester at the School of the Plastic Arts at the University of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, where he studied mural painting and Mexican folkloric dance. Rick also traveled extensively throughout Mexico at various times of his life to experience the culture and the ancient Pre-Columbian ruins of this continent.
Rick became a picture framer through his desire to see his own paintings framed, which resulted to become his profession for the next 20 years. In 1997 Rick opened a fine art and framing gallery called Mexica Art and Framing, for 7 years.
His goal as an artist was to master realism and surrealism using water based paints and techniques. Eventually, watercolors became his favorite medium. Rick also wanted to link the people of today to the ancient past of Mexico by reinterpreting the various forms of art and folklore of Mexico’s ancient past.