Lloyd Lindley II began painting in 4th grade and drew and painted his way through life. In 1973, during a six month naive and coming of age journey from Scandinavia to Turkey, artists like Edvard Munch, Robert Crumb, Windsor McKay, Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso ignited his creative engine. Upon returning, Mr. Lindley began painting and soon after began studying fine art at the University of Oregon with Robert Kostka, basic design, composition and color theory; Laverne Krause, oil painting and surrealism; Jan Zach, sculpture and light; Robert Foster, motion graphics, digital colorization and animation. Hunter S. Thompson wrote, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” Mr. Lindley decided to move across the hall to the School of Architecture and study landscape architecture.

In 1980, graduating from the University of Oregon with a professional degree (BLA) in landscape architecture, Mr. Lindley sketched his way to Walker Macy, a Portland landscape architecture and planning firm. Walker Macy provided amazing opportunities to work on projects such as Pioneer Courthouse Square, university campuses, the Oregon Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and industrial planning across the U.S. and Canada.

He later joined the architecture and planning firm of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca (ZGF) in 1987, where he spent nearly 9 years as an urban designer. In a prior conversation with his future mentor, Gregory S. Baldwin, (BA MA architecture and urban design Harvard University) Mr. Lindley asked about graduate programs in urban design. Mr. Baldwin suggested that Lindley join ZGF adding “Why go back to college when you can get a great education working here at ZGF.” ZGF and Mr. Baldwin provided a steep learning curve with an emphasis in Light Rail Transportation and station area development strategies, which was eventually recognized for laying the foundation for a new kind of place making in cities across the U.S.

Upon completion of the Westside Corridor Project (Light Rail from downtown Portland to Hillsboro, where Mr. Lindley was project architect and co-managed the project with Joy Gannett also of ZGF), he resigned and began his own eponymous firm of Lloyd D. Lindley, ASLA focusing on urban design and economic development. From 1995 to 2012, Mr. Lindley continued to collaborate with Mr. Baldwin and ZGF on projects while launching his own career that spanned the west coast from Vancouver, BC to San Diego, California.

After years of shaping cities and award winning design work, Mr. Lindley became a Fellow in the American Society of Landscape Architects in 2005. He served on the City of Portland Urban Forestry Commission, Portland Design Commission (Chair), formed and was president of the Friends of Grant, Chaired ArtQuake, a Portland annual arts festival, and also served on a development design review committee for the City of Tigard.

After more than 17 years, in 2012, Mr. Lindley completed his responsibilities as project architect and designer for the MLK Viaduct project on Pacific Highway in Portland, and with that he closed his firm and now focuses on narrative fine art painting and drawing. He has also written two books, Lindley Lane and Hard Ground (unpublished).