Vibrant color, dramatic composition, mesmerizing imagery ---- these are the hallmarks of any work of art created by Darrell Troppy. Whether applied to top-of-the-line canvas or ordinary butcher paper, the native Texan's art figuratively jumps off the canvas and demands your full focus and attention --- and once you've invested those, you're quite likely hooked on this force of nature and creative genius that is indeed Darrell Troppy. Remarkably, this free-spirited Renaissance man hails from a miniscule farming community - LaSara, Texas, population 369 - in the Southwest Texas Valley area. The older of Fay and Herman Troppy's two sons marvels at the fact that both he and brother,Danny, are artists. "What are the chances that my farmer father and homemaker mother would raise two creative types?" Darrell muses. Regardless of that anomaly, Darrell enthusiastically credits his family for supporting his creative spirit and encouraging his artistic and - perhaps more importantly - spiritual growth. "I've always felt that if there is such a thing as reincarnation, that I'd want to come back and do it all over again with those three souls," he says. A framed photo of Darrell's first official painting hangs in the upstairs office of his circa 1924 English Tudor home in Beaumont, Texas.

The paint-by-numbers juvenile masterpiece provides illustrated documentation that pure color and a paradoxical combination of artistic whimsy and graphical structure were, in Darrell's case, not learned skills but rather inborn talents. And as Darrell came of age, so did his artistic inclinations. "The high school I attended was 15 miles from my house," Darrell recalls. "What that meant to me was thirty miles of drive time every day to doodle, sketch and create." By the time Darrell graduated in 1979 from Raymondville High School, he had received 21 art-related awards, including a University Interscholastic League (UIL) Grand Champion award for artistic achievement. Darrell set his sights on higher education and headed to Southwest Texas State University (recently renamed Texas State University), renowned equally for its academic standards and time honored reputation as one the nation's leading "party-hearty" schools. "I was kind of on the five year plan," Darrell laughs. "While I was there, I met some of the most wonderful people -and some of the most outrageous - all of whom had a part in shaping my life and many I continue to be friends with."

In 1984, after winning the "Best of Show" award in the university's All Student Art Show, Darrell opted for the bright lights and big city lifestyle and headed to Houston. "It seemed like I'd waited all my life to get there and once I did it was like, 'What now?'" he says. "What now" quickly evolved into "What else now?" Darrell was soon working as art director at Heaven, a highly popular and heavily populated night spot, creating exciting, energetic and show stopping sets for such disco icons as Grace Jones and Divine. In addition, he burst on to the commercial, aesthetic and community service scenes, working as freelance talent for area businesses, exhibiting in local galleries and contributing his talents to charitable causes such as the Deaf Children's School. For this small town boy done good, the epitome came when "Good Morning Houston" featured one of his works, "The Giant," on their morning broadcast. "That's one of those days you take with you forever - mainly because my parents got to see what I do best in living color on television," he says, adding reflectively, "actually, life is filled with moments like those. I used to think it was the total lifetime that your fellow man judged you by. Now I believe it's in the mere moments, in the memories I keep and how I translate that into my art."

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