It was seven years ago when he first picked up a paintbrush - out of necessity - and painted a "Star Wars" character. "I had seen a very simple Star Wars painting on eBay, knowing that my wife wouldn t let me purchase it," he says. So he went to the store and bought some canvas and paint and "painted something similar." He continued painting and exhibited at a number of shows at Full of Beans cafe, which led to shows with the National Gallery and a solo show at the former local gallery, Arteccentrix. "I was then approached by New York filmmaker Brian Gonzales [aka "Taxiplasm" on Vimeo, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter] to participate in a group show in collaboration with Sean Lennon [son of the Beatles John Lennon] which took place at The Box in New York City," he says. "After that, I took an entire year to work on paintings for a Lucasfilm portfolio review." Lipton, who was born in Ontario, Canada, first came to Cayman in 1983. He spent summers with his grandparents in Pease Bay, "catching lizards and crabs, running up and down on the beach with the neighborhood dogs, fishing and snorkeling. He has lived in Cayman since 1997. "I have lots of family in Cayman, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins and my grandma in the Brac, Barbara Malone nee Watler. She s 83 years and strong as ever, she brought me everywhere. She traveled when I was a kid and is a second mother to me."
