By Lauren Schiavone
Hometown Weekly Staff
Artist Randa Khuri, former nurse and flutist, now sees the world through watercolor — and her vision is on display in the Needham Free Public Library. Khuri’s current exhibit is located on the second floor of the library, illuminating the west wall with gorgeous still-lifes, florals, and abstract pieces.
A big fan of sketching and music in her childhood, Khuri was able to channel emotion into the arts from a young age. It wasn’t until she was an adult that she began seriously taking art classes. In between raising three young children, she studied sculpture at the MFA with Ralph Rosenthal. Next door, she took watercolor classes. The passion has stuck ever since.
Khuri paints detailed florals and fruits, seamlessly blending colors onto canvas. Lemons in a bowl next to vibrant poppies brighten the space and show Khuri’s keen eye for composition and color balance. A line of gorgeous florals stand as shades of red and pink flow off the canvas. Gourds, pomegranates, coffee and cherries stand at the end of the exhibit.
Khuri takes everyday objects and visions and melds them into into pieces that let the mind wander to brighter spaces. “I love to paint close-ups of still-lifes; and I have frequently set up objects with special lighting to create interesting shadows,” she explains. “When I have the need to be more free and more loose, I create an abstract painting. On a damp watercolor paper, the pigments bleed into each other and the results can be amazing!”
As for keeping her skills sharp, Khuri thanks her friends at The Watercolor Connection, “a wonderful group of artists, with whom I paint once a week, stimulates me to create new ideas and techniques, and keep on painting.”
She brings up a quote to underscore her enthusiasm for her work: “Pierre-Auguste Renoir said: ‘Why shouldn’t art be pretty? There are enough unpleasant things in the world.’”
Randa Khuri’s pretty watercolors are on display at the Needham Free Public Library through the end of October.
