We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lindsey Bender a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lindsey, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I’ve always loved painting and drawing but I began to take art seriously when I started college and decided to take drawing I as one of my electives. After taking the class, I decided to pursue an art degree and had many wonderful professors along the way of earning that. After college, I wanted to pursue tattooing but knew my technical drawing abilities weren’t up to par so I switched the focus of my art to be less about self expression and really tried to hone my skills from a technical drawing ability stand point. I spent hours and hours a day drawing and painting for months. I’d find drawing tutorials online, kept a sketchbook and would work on larger projects. While that was going on, I was also running the front desk at a tattoo shop. Eventually I was given an apprenticeship where I learned how to tattoo from my mentor.

I think the most important thing when trying to improve your painting and drawing skills is to seek out guidance in the form of professors, mentors, or even YouTubers and practice, practice, practice.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m an artist and tattooer in Wichita, Kansas. I tattoo at the Elektrik Chair in Wichita and also sell my paintings. I love the strange and the beautiful, especially when the two coincide. I’m heavily inspired by fairytales and love making art and tattoos that feel like they could have been pulled from the illustrations of a fairytale book.

I love tattooing in both color and black and grey, but my favorite subjects matters to tattoo are nature inspired pieces and pretty lady faces. I spend a lot of time creating tattoo designs and posting them to my instagram for people to see and book for. But my favorite thing is when a client brings me a unique idea I haven’t thought of before but then gives me creative freedom to interpret the idea and draw it in my own style.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Window shop! (Or scroll artist’s social media) Our first instinct when we’re in the market for something is usually to check amazon or run to target. If you make a point to follow artists on social media, and occasionally scroll through what they have available they’ll be in the forefront of your mind next time you need something. Simply remembering to check and see if a local artist has what you need before you run to the store is a great way to support creatives. If you need new mugs or bowls, wall decor, or a throw blanket and you decide to invest in something you love and is handmade, not only are you supporting the artist but you are curating your own collection of things that are uniquely you. You might not always be able to find a handmade version of the thing you’re looking for but you won’t know unless you remember to check!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Many people think of art fundamentally as self expression. But for many professional artists that are not making their living selling their work in galleries, it’s more about helping others express themselves. I’ve developed a unique style in my tattoos and paintings and it is such a humbling, rewarding, and fulfilling experience when someone sees that style and it speaks to them and they know I’m the person they want to do their tattoo. When a client looks in the mirror and sees the piece I’ve done for them and says “this is exactly what I wanted”, that is food for an artist’s soul.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindseybendsey/
• Other: TikTok: lindseybendsey