T.W. ‘Pops’ Vanya has been painting since 2000 but that’s just recently. Prior to that he spent 30 years working in graphite and charcoal developing an exceptional style and a large body of work in that medium.
His career has not always followed the way of the artist; a Houston Police Officer, as delivery boat crew in the yachting industry, a cabinet maker, an iron worker, a life guard and a few other pursuits along the way lead interestingly enough, to the world of western art.
He makes his home in the rural community of Somerville in central Texas. His turn of the century Craftsman style house is 121 years old and he has the luxury of living close to the cattle, horses, ranches and cowboys he loves to portray. Since he lives in Texas, home of the most beautiful women in the world, he never runs short of the models he loves to feature in his figurative works.
Most days one can find him working in the studio he built next door, painting, drawing or photographing models for his figurative works, or out in a pasture or in the working pens of a neighbors ranch, sketching horses, cowboys, and cattle, gathering the necessary references he needs for the lifelike and detailed paintings he produces. He spends one day a week teaching, sharing his skills with students.
Pops is fond of saying “…a day without art is not a day!”
