After completing a profession in education as a photographer/graphic designer, Richard started a second career in fine art photography. He received a BA degree in Studio Art from Hope College, where he began experimented with photo imagery and went on to complete graduate work in intaglio printmaking at Michigan State University. Currently Richard is representing his work in national and international exhibitions, where he has won numerous awards. Mr. Aardsma has lived most of his life in the midwest and presently resides with his wife in Grandville, Michigan.

“Rick Aardsma's photo montages are beautifully crafted. He masterly designs seamless compositions representing the structural world around us. His art can be described as metaphysical in that, his city-scapes and landscapes evoke feelings of familiarity and nostalgia from fictional scenes we know really do not exist.”
– Kathy Tessimond (Artist/ Art Instructor)