At the age of sixteen Rich failed the eye test for his drivers license. After being fitted with his first pair of glasses, he realized the rest of the world was seeing things with more detail than he was used to. His visual world had been filled with soft fuzzy shapes, no hard edges just colorful transitions. This greatly influenced his painting style. His paintings are reminiscent of the soft colorful shapes from his childhood. For the same reason, Rich is drawn to Japanese watercolors. The gentle shapes on wet paper all run together. The brush strokes are fine calligraphy. Look closely at his paintings and you can see the influence.

As for the meaning of art, Rich keeps things simple, "I don’t want to say anything about politics, war, or the social condition. I just want to create a pleasurable place for the viewer to go to, away from the chaos of living."

Rich's drawing skills developed at an early age. When he was a child his father sat across the kitchen table from him and drew pictures upside down, which would face right side up for Rich. Rich would then draw a picture for his father, upside down also. To this day when drawing from life, Rich often turns his paper upside down or sideways and continues to draw. Anyone watching is amused, including other artists.