Frank Oscar Lind III was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and grew up in the adjoining town of Cumberland. The eldest of eight children, he watched the fields and farms of his home town change to suburbs and city. He was able to make a studio in the basement of his childhood home, and early inspirations ranged from Michelangelo to science fiction illustration.

Lind attended Georgetown University in Washington DC, receiving a BA in Fine Arts in 1970. He moved to New York City in 1971 and earned an MFA from Pratt Institute, becoming an art professor and heading the Pratt Graduate Art Department before combining the Graduate and Undergraduate Departments in 1991 into one large unit, of which he was the chair. In 1999 he became Dean of the School of Art and Design for ten years, and then taught until 2020 as a full professor. Teaching enriched his own work as he painted in class along with his students, sharing with them the processes and techniques that he continued to explore.

Currently sharing time between Madison, WI and Brooklyn, NY, Lind maintains an art studio in Downtown Brooklyn. The museums and galleries of New York City have long been a creative source, as have been the beaches and waves of the Atlantic ocean, particularly the East End of Long Island. Of late the great inland sea, Lake Superior, has also become a source of inspiration on his yearly trips to the North Country.