featuring words from Randy Sexton

What triggered this subject for Randy Sexton is the community he was a part of for a few years. When he started teaching courses and joined a few plein air painting communities in person, he realized how important and worthwhile it is to be a part of a group of artists. After college, Randy found that some of the friendships with other artists had him learning more from his friends than he had in college. He had some knowledge to begin with, but there were close friendships that steered and formed the way he paints now. The ability to get out to paint with other people, especially with plein air painting, is like having fishing buddies. Interacting and building community with others is a different type of appreciation when it comes to art.

It was helpful for Randy to have a like-minded community that were getting out and painting together. There are many artists that can share the same sentiment with this as there are various local groups that get people to go out and paint together. There is something special about having a community of sorts to keep you going. It gives you juice. Randy didn’t realize what he and his art needed until he got into the space of community and started seeing changes. There are a number of artists who inspire Randy and he inspires them back. Reach out to other painters if you want to be around people. There are plenty of ways to do this through community and event websites.

Gabor always tells people that, even though TAAO has online courses, it is still a community. This is a great option for people who can’t physically get to a workshop or don’t have time to go to one. Take the physical when you can and have a mixture of online and in-person. Many of our students who live in the same area coordinate the same course so they can enroll and paint together. In the mentoring courses, you are also able to interact with your instructor for 365 days, which is much more in depth than a 2 or 3-day workshop. They are there by your side every step of the way.

Interested in learning more from Randy? Click below to join his self-study now:

Listen to Randy and Gabor on the Paint & Clay podcast here.