In the Spotlight: Lindy Bronson

During the time that I ran The Dancing Elephant Gallery, a friend of mine, Carri Sue Anderson, once suggested that I check out the art of Lindy Bronson of Chopper's Art. I looked him up on Facebook, and I could not believe what I saw. Here were gorgeous, detailed drawings in pen and ink, mainly done with stippling. His subject matter varied, but included a lot of pop culture and celebrities. They were fun and interesting subjects, but what got me was the quality of the art. Lindy really works to make sure the image is accurate and realistic, and the stippling (tiny dots made with an ink pen) was done with amazing precision. I knew I needed to make contact with this man, and get his art into my gallery!

Lindy agreed to be featured artist in my gallery, the month that I closed the physical doors. I wished I could have represented him longer, but I had a feeling that our artistic relationship would not end once we closed up shop.

I don't know about Lindy's point of view, but when I met him, I felt like we really hit it off. I am not one to make friends easily, but Lindy was so easygoing and friendly, it would be hard not to like him and get along with him. I think we really connected. When he brought his art for the show, we had a great visit, and learned a little more about each other, as we waited for his show to begin. Since then, we have both done Art in the Bar in Boise, with our shows set up next to each other, and I hope we will continue to meet up and perhaps collaborate sometime.

Lindy Bronson is a 36 year old truck driver from Caldwell, Idaho. This keeps him very busy, working about 65 hours a week, but in his down time on the road, he does his art. His specialty is ink stippling, although he does mixed media as well. He is married, and has two sons, aged 15 and 11, so when he isn't on the road or drawing, he's a family man. His goals are to get his sons, Sidney and Avry, through school and off to college, and is working on promoting a healthy environment and habits for himself and his family. And he also does Kung Fu. How awesome is that?!

His personal goals are to outdo himself artistically, to blow his mind with his own work. Great goal to have! If an artist isn't pushing himself, his work will end up stagnant. Lindy, surprisingly, is self-taught. He has taken a few art classes in high school, and had a few months of training in college, but for the most part, has learned from hands-on experience and experimentation, discovering techniques on his own through trial and error. However, he has made sure to take constructive criticism and suggestion from his peers, to help improve his skills. (This is very important for any artist---to be teachable and humble, willing to learn and correct one's work).

DaVinci self portrait

Lindy greatly admires Leonardo DaVinci's work---not necessarily his masterpieces of art, but his blueprints and invention plans inspire him, because they show DaVinci's thoughts, ideas, and inspiration. Lindy also appreciates the art of his colleagues, including Carri Sue Anderson, an artist in Idaho, who has helped guide him with her knowledge,  Amy VanGaasbeck, who gave him his first gallery show, and many others that he follows on Facebook.

DaVinci's plans

He seems to work so effortlessly, you wouldn't think that Lindy has any obstacles to overcome, but hair and fabric textures are challenges to him.

Some of Lindy's favorite things include the color blue, tigers, the winter season, superhero and sci-fi movies, eating cheesy potatoes, and alternative music. If you take a look at his art, you can see the influence of many of these, although I haven't seen cheesy potatoes in any of his work yet....

Lindy's favorite piece that he has done so far, is the Noker Express. It's an old train that was put out to pasture in Virginia. It involved a lot of stippling, and creative use of lost and found edges, and negative space.

The Noker Express

He is currently working on a commissioned piece for a friend, of her in-laws.

Currently, you can find Lindy's art at A Cup of Joe, and Gifts Too Go in Nampa, Idaho. You can like his Facebook page, Chopper's Art, or find him on Instagram and Twitter---@choppersart or www.choppersart.com.