Rick Romano – Surf Artist
Rick Romano wins first place on the water and on the canvas!
Rick Romano – amidst his passions in surfing and football, there was art. A native of Virginia Beach and a 1950’s child of the oceanfront, Rick became well known for his surfing talent at an early age, entering local contests and dreaming of surf daily. He would be the first to introduce VA Beach to stand up paddle boarding in the early 2000s and is still surfing waves today. Rick was also a football star at First Colonial High School and went onto play at Ferrum College- National Champions and training grounds to a number of pre NFL players. Rick studied art during college and returned to the ocean and home in VA Beach to begin his formal Art career. He took on jobs within the local newspapers and was hired to provide a weekly sketch of life depicted in the Hampton Roads area. He was very active in community art happenings, judged art shows, and frequently requested by the city to provide art works for events and commemorations.
But big waves were calling Rick to journey West and in the mid 90’s he took up residency in Hawaii – something that was once in his mind as a surfing fantasy had become a reality and would prove to be a huge influence in his art works. Rick’s obsession with big wave surfing whether it be on a windsurfer or a surfboard translated through his art works in a series of oversized wave scenes which have captured the attention of surfers all across the world. These works take surfers to a place in every surfer’s mind of what the epic surf scene should look like. Rick spent a handful of years on Maui and made his way back to the VA Beach area and slowly has migrated South to the Outer Banks, NC where the waves are just as big as Hawaii on certain days.
A collection of articles over the years of Rick Romano noting his accomplishments along the way.
Rick’s accomplishments are ongoing but he gained his first National recognition in 1980 : commissioned by the Worrell 1000 Coastwise Catamaran Race Team to create their first official race poster. He has multiple works that were selected to be published by Surfing Artists International and distributed by Bruce McGaw Graphics, Inc. He achieved the title of Best Local Artist in 1996 voted by residents in Hampton Roads. Always available to help or offer his time to his community, Rick spent many years as Artist in Resident at a number of the local elementary schools and has been active in donating to his art works to charities since the 1980s.
There is an endless list of commission works by Rick Romano. He has been one of the most sought after artists in the Hampton Roads area for commissions including large scale murals, art work outfitting for corporate buildings, residential art work layouts and consultations, * the most requested and very endearing to the client ~ residential or corporate architectural renderings. Rick is currently available for art commissions. Please contact him at 757-510-5401 or rick@rickromano.com for more information.
Enjoy watching this clip with Rick Romano being interviewed by Chris Reckling from WAVY TV10 SPORTS during the East Coast Surfing Championship in 2006.