Born in Santa Barbara and graduated San Marcos High School. I began my career in Arboriculture working summers and weekends throughout high school as a groundsman for a local company that mainly performed work in the Hope Ranch and Montecito areas. I was trained as a climber as my employer noticed me as “natural” in the business and said that I had an “artistic eye”. I continued to work for local companies in the Santa Barbara area until 1989 when I accepted a position as foreman/right hand for a large company in Santa Cruz. In 1991 I decided to start my own company in Santa Cruz and soon found my work area spreading into Silicon Valley. I became a Certified Arborist in 1993. My primary client in the Bay area was AAA Insurance and I performed many large hazardous removals and failure cleanups throughout the Bay region. I also gained much experience in potential failure diagnosis, tree evaluation and report writing as well as post failure analysis. I realized I missed my hometown of Santa Barbara, its climate and beautiful trees, especially the Oaks and decided to move back in 1999. I still thoroughly enjoy my work, climb and prune trees regularly and am integral on every jobsite. I keep the company small and personal to insure quality work and excellent customer communications. I have trained many tree care professionals and a few of my protégés operate some of the most successful companies locally and throughout the state. For fun I enjoy sailing, surfing, hiking and just about everything outdoors. Love all animals, especially dogs.

Copyright 2015 - Rick Rudnick's Artistree