An American impressionist artist born in Detroit, Michigan, Dick Zayac studied art at Cass Tech High and received scholarships to Art Students League and Pratt Institute in NYC where he studied under Frank V. DuMond and Frank Riley.

During the Korean war, Dick served as an artist documenting psychological warfare activities of the US Army. Later, he worked as a commercial artist whose work appeared in Detroit newspapers and Time magazine. Then he became an art director for several major advertising agencies.

Vacations spent painting in St. Augustine, Florida resulted in renovation of an 1885 historical building to serve as his gallery and studio for eight years. He has now returned to Michigan where he has built a new studio in the northern Michigan woods.