Meet Professor Randall Reid: Kissing Tree’s Resident Artist

Local artist and future Kissing Tree resident Randall Reid has showcased his artwork in nearly 400 exhibitions over the past 40 years. His work is featured in private collections across the world, including Canada, Australia, England, Indonesia, Mexico and the Netherlands. While his work may be world renowned, he stays true to his San Marcos roots.

Randall has been teaching art at Texas State University for the last 30 years, passing on his long-time love of art to his students in his Drawing and 2D Design classes. The school is also home to his current art studio where he focuses on his passion of creating experiential art out of reusable materials.

“I love introducing young minds to foundation art classes,” said Reid. “It’s a privilege to be surrounded by so much creativity and to help students problem solve. Texas State is an emerging research institution, and I have a unique opportunity to balance teaching with creative research and service.”

Randall’s love for art started as early as he can remember with his mother helping fuel his passion for the arts. Growing up in a family of artists and engineers, Randall’s childhood was filled with creativity and inspiration.

“My mom started saving drawings when I was two – she was our resident artist,” said Reid. “We grew up with art magazines, art books, attended her art openings and visited local museums. We even took lessons from my mom.”

His love for experiential art started during his undergraduate class at Louisiana Tech University. Quickly learning that he didn’t want to limit his talents to traditional still-life and landscape paintings, he started being influenced by materials. Whether it was sand from tennis courts or fragments of steel from found objects, Randall started creating unique masterpieces, each with a special story behind it.

Some of his most memorable pieces relate back to his home. Most notably, his artwork titled “Thanks Dad” was created after visiting home during spring break in 1976. His Dad was staining antique chairs, and Randall took the drop cloth and turned it into an interpretive landscape painting.

His most sentimental show was titled “Generations: ages 3 through 73” at the Lodge at Creekside in Wimberley in 2003. It was a tribute to his family, starting with his sons who were three and five at the time, all the way to his mom’s paintings and his dad’s photographs.

San Marcos has been home for Randall, wife Olivia and his two boys Wiley and Whitaker for the past 30 years. While some may see San Marcos as just a small college town, Randall says it offers everything he needs both personally and professionally.

“I enjoy living a simple life in a small, safe city that has a lot of natural beauty,” said Reid. “The connection between Texas State and San Marcos is amazing in the fact that they support each other very well. Dr. Denise Trauth, President of Texas State University, has done an incredible job of changing the face of campus.”

Randall and Olivia came across Kissing Tree in 2016 and quickly decided it was where they wanted to build their forever dream home. It was a mix of the calm setting and amenities such as golf, tennis, pickleball and bocce ball that really drew the Reids in.

Not only will Randall have a home at Kissing Tree, but a 900-square-foot personal art studio where he will also host personal exhibits. His home isn’t the only place to find his art at Kissing Tree – several of his pieces are featured in the current Kissing Tree Sales and Design Center. Reid says he has already found support from his future neighbors here at Kissing Tree.

“The people are so friendly, the homes are well-built, there are beautiful Hill Country views, and it’s just a great place to make new friends,” said Reid. “The community is thought out – we immediately became pioneers upon seeing the vision that was laid out.”

Be sure to check out Randall’s art at his next major exhibition at the Davis Gallery in Austin, TX. Randall will have a retrospective which will include over 90 works from the early 80s to present. The exhibition will open in January 2019 – more details to follow.