He attended the Art Institute of Miami for several years where he refined his artistic vision in drawing and painting and was soon earning an income from published illustrations. Garcia has enjoyed a rich and diverse career starting with the hit TV show Miami Vice commissioning him to create a mural on the side of a three story building, and used his paintings for interior shots.

Apart from a growing number of private commissions, his distinctive images were commissioned by The United Nations Postal Administration in 1998 and 2003. His stamps brought awareness to the growing extinction of the rainforest and its inhabitants, and followed with the 50th Anniversary of the World Health Organization, bringing awareness to the vanishing supply of freshwater, where it earned him the prestige of the most beautiful stamp series of 2003.

Garcia was selected as an Absolut Artist of the 90s in the popular vodka ad campaign and with his second piece Absolut Electric, he again drew worldwide attention.

1998, 1999, and 2001 garnered him the distinction of official artist to The Grammy Awards where his creations influenced the look of the live broadcast and graced the covers of the official program book, CDs, posters, apparel, and other various items. His work included portraits of stars such as Destiny’s Child, Ricky Martin, Coldplay, Santana, Celia Cruz, Black Eyed Peas, Imogen Heap and Kanye West. His life long passion of thoroughbred racing tapped him in 2008 to be the official artist of the 2008 Kentucky Derby Festival.

Rick’s association with the famous Gibson Custom Shop brand spawned a collection of highly collectable one of kind painted guitars. Quickly these guitars sold soon after completion and Rick is currently trying to add more to the collection as time will allow. His most recent work on guitars was painting a 1954 Gibson Les Paul reissue for The Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame and a 50th Anniversary issue of the Gibson SG for CANCER RESEARCH U.K.

With a strong desire to get connected to his Cuban heritage, his recent work has turned towards capturing the unique blend of Cubas past and present by mixing images of Cubas nostalgic era with a pop contemporary look. For Rick, Cuba offers endless inspiration from the sounds, textures, cars, colors, architecture, and people… all drenched in the tropical Cuban sunlight. “Cuba con Leche” (Cuba with Milk) was born to offer the artwork as both originals and merchandised items such as greeting cards, posters, museum quality prints, t-shirts, to name a few things planned for this venture.