Born in Pasadena, California - 1961. Thomas Van Stein received his Bachelors degree in Illustration, and graduated with high honors from Cal State University, Northridge, in 1984. He then furthered his education attending Pasadena Art Center College of Design. Much of his post graduate education was acquired through extensive traveling worldwide; studying the art and culture in each of the 40 host countries he's visited. In May 1999, Thomas graduated with distinction from Cal State University, Northridge earning a Master of Arts Degree in Art. While attending C.S.U.N., he was chosen as the Fall, 1998 recipient of the prestigious Hans Burkhardt Foundation Scholarship.

As a fine artist, Van Stein has involved himself in over 160 exhibitions of his paintings; both in one-man shows and group exhibitions. He has won numerous awards for his paintings in various Southern California-based juried art exhibitions; Two-First Place awards, 1994 Catalina Island Arts Festival. First Prize, Santa Barbara Semana Nautica Arts Competition. He was awarded Best of Show in the 1997 National Juried Arts Competition at the Abend Gallery, in Denver, Colorado, juried by renowned artist, Quang Ho.

While a majority of Van Stein's paintings are painted on location in daylight, his forte is painting Nightscapes - or "nocturnes", en plein air. Van Stein's nocturnal paintings were featured both on the cover and in the November 1997 issue of "The Artist's Magazine"; in an article he wrote entitled, "Capture the Energy of the Night;" a "how to" approach to painting nocturnes. Thomas was featured in the April 1998 issue of Southwest Art Magazine, as one of six American Artists who are focusing on painting nocturnes. He was listed as an, "Artist to Watch" in the December 1998 issue, and nocturnes from his Master's thesis exhibition, "Burning the Midnight Oil" were featured in the August 1999 issue of Southwest Art Magazine under, "Best of the West." His Artwork received
the Museum Director's Award, at the 1999 Santa Barbara Art Walk, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Thomas is the only artist to be featured on the cover of The Montecito Journal three different issues
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He received First Prize in 2 dimensional painting at the Classic Art Competition, 2001, sponsored by the Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard California, and First Prize for his artwork at the 2001 Santa Barbara Art Walk. He was one of eight Finalists being considered for a one man show, in the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum-2002, an event jurored by noted Los Angeles Times Art Critic David Pagel. Thomas was chosen to be the featured artist for the annual Lotusland Foundation benefit gala, 2002, and the 2003 Director's Choice Award for the Carnegie Art Museum Classic Competition. He is the winner of the 2003 Individual Artist Award for Santa Barbara County, sponsored by the Santa Barbara Arts Fund.

As a teacher, Thomas has taught painting through the S.B.C.C. Continuing Education program for ten years, two Plein Air Painting Nocturne workshops through the Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard California, and oil painting workshops in Santa Barbara. Van Stein is a fifteen-year member of an environmentally conscious group of nationally acclaimed Santa Barbara-based landscape painters known as, "The O.A.K. Group". This group has dedicated itself to promoting the preservation of landscapes as open space. He is an Artist Member in the California Art Club, a member of Oil Painter's of America, and the Santa Barbara Art Association.

He has successfully completed over 60 commissioned paintings, four of which required him to paint in Europe in 1997, 99, 2002, 03, 04, and 05. One of his most recent commissions sent him to Iceland, to paint the purity of the night, during the darkest time of the year. He will be a featured artist on an episode of the acclaimed PBS series "California's Gold," hosted by Huell Howser, featuring the O.A.K. Group, in January 2006.