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Von Tipton was born Levon Tipton in Donaldsonville, Georgia in 1946. Fueled by books, movies and the local swamps and rivers around his childhood Bainbridge, Georgia home, Von Tipton’s young imagination soared. But his desire for something tangible instead of imaginary forced him to find an outlet to make his mind’s images real. At five years old Von drew things from nature. Other subjects that fascinated him were family ghost stories and mysteries – such as disappearing boats that were never found again. Tipton settled in Chattahoochee, Florida in 1958.
As Von Tipton matured he began studying books on the old masters and purchased many how-to-paint books. For the next 20 years Von practiced painting. During that time Von was a closet painter, working in construction as a brick layer. Mostly a self-taught artist, Von Tipton was encouraged by friends and family. His brother, Gene, said that Von spent thousands of hours drawing and painting. Then one day he walked into a bookstore and saw a book would inspire him more than any other book – The Fantastic Art of Frank Frazetta. Frazetta created images like the ones in Von’s imagination.
Tipton finally let loose and began painting the science fiction and fantasy images that won him prestigious awards. Von Tipton’s style evolved to express a vivid and fabulous imagery, evoking the wonder of magical beings and legendary heroes. Many of his paintings also documented the beauty of his rural country surroundings, making his work unique in the genre.
Von’s health finally forced him to quit construction. He taught art from 1975-1986 at the Recreation Department in Chattahoochee. In 1987 Tipton took photographs of his paintings to Decor Gallery in Tallahassee, Florida. Decor immediately took his paintings on consignment and commissioned him to paint only for them. Tipton quickly got a large following in the area, selling approximately 300 paintings over the next two years. People react to Von’s work, said Cvia Rodin, one of the Decor Gallery’s owners. They have something to say about it and it says something different to anyone who sees it. People put a lot of themselves into his paintings.
By 1995 Von Tipton had painted almost 800 paintings and still had so many ideas that he couldn’t get them all done. He found imagery for his work everywhere. His goal was to create a scene that could evoke a story in the viewer’s mind. A Von Tipton painting makes you wonder what happens before and after that one provocative scene. Von read a lot but seldom used ideas from published works, though they inspired him. Some of his paintings are bright and positive and there are darker works as well. They make a lasting impression and that, Von said, is what art is all about. If an artist doesn’t provoke some kind of feeling it won’t be noticed.
His awards include two First Place awards – Peer’s Choice and the Harlequin Art categories, at the 1988 Nolocon II World Science Fiction Convention, New Orleans (sponsored by the World Science Fiction Society – the organization that chooses the annual Hugo Award winners); First Place award at the 1988 Opus Magnus Fantasy Convention in Columbus Georgia; First place, 1995 Dark Fantasy division at DragonCon, Atlanta; nominated to receive the Chesley Award (sponsored by the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists). Galleries and shows include Decor Gallery, Tallahassee; UFO Museum and Art Gallery, Roswell, New Mexico (Tipton’s UFO art was also published in the art book – Roswell, Have You Wondered and exhibited in the museum art gallery traveling show); Era sistables Gallery, Havana, Florida; Pelican Gallery, Tallahassee; Oounkshaw Art gallery, Young Harris, Georgia; Dark Millenia Studios, Denver, Colorado; The Westgate Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana; 1995 World Horror Convention, Atlanta; numerous one-man shows. Von Tipton was also the featured artist in Volume 4, number 4 of Carpe Noctem magazine.
Tipton’s art work was praised by world-renown science fiction artist, Kelly Freas. Freas usually charged for an art critique but never charged Von Tipton. Freas sent Tipton a 4-page hand-written letter praising his work and asked to keep a photograph of a Von Tipton fairy painting.
A Von Tipton mural of the historic John W. Callahan steamboat, forging ahead on the Apalachicola River, still graces the side of an old brick building at Heritage Park in Chattahoochee. A down-to-earth, quiet man, Von Tipton never tired of painting. It was his joy – what he was meant to do. He delighted in the scary or the fantastic story, reminiscent of his childhood days fishing and camping with his dad. His technique in oils is some of the best you will ever see and his ability to create the magical, the whimsical and the scary on canvas will touch a part of you that you may not know exists.
- Compiled by Lizabeth West and Mike Hunter
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