Land Ho! 

From the exacting world of a left-brained numbers guy comes a softened, romantic look at boats, harbors, and landscapes, the favorite subjects of self-taught impressionist Pappy Khouri.

Khouri never studied art but may have inherited some gifts from his great grandfather, Curtis Winters, who was an artist and a sea captain.

“I have some of his paintings. He used to run a ship from Boston all the way down to Key West. I have several of the oils he did of Key west,” Khouri says.

Khouri, 76, has admired and collected art throughout his life.

“Deb [his wife] and I don’t have kids, so that college tuition went to buying art instead,” he says with a laugh. “We have a house full of art and we are lucky to be able to do that.”

Khouri began creating his own art after making a remark while admiring the work of an artist who was painting on the porch of a gallery in Oriental, North Carolina. It may have been a wish fulfilled, or a challenge, but that’s how it started.

“When I retired, I volunteered in a gallery in Oriental. My wife and I did some design work for them. Later, I would just sit on the porch and watch the artists paint overlooking the harbor. Once I said, ‘I wish I could paint like you.’ The artist replied, ‘Anybody can paint. Here’s a brush and a canvas, go at it.’ She literally held my hand and forced me to paint on that canvas,” he recalls.

That chance remark in 2012 to Polish artist Gosia Tojza launched Khouri on a second career as an artist.

“It has since become a passion. I moved to Oriental, the sailing capital of North Carolina, because I loved to sail, but I discovered painting is way more fun. And it doesn’t cost as much,” he says.

Khouri grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, living there until time to enter college. He selected Doane University, the oldest private college in Nebraska. He liked it so much he stayed, spending his entire career there and retiring in 2007 as the school’s treasurer.

Khouri enjoys painting with fellow artists in workshops and en plein air.

“I love to paint and I love to be around other artists. I get a lot of energy from painting in a group. It’s a cool hobby for retirement,” he says.

He takes inspiration from a variety of impressionists as well as local artist Dan Beck. Khouri and Beck recently spent time painting in Leland’s shady Cypress Cove Park.

“Russian impressionism would be the style that most appeals to me. I have been following Pavel Shumov and his works,” Khouri says.

Khouri is one of the featured artists in the Dan Beck Fine Arts Gallery, which opened in February 2024 and is located inside theArtWorks at 200 Willard Street in Wilmington.

“From the first workshop I took with Dan, I knew where I was headed as an artist. I wanted to paint looser with more expression. It’s amazing what you can soak up from a real master.  His encouragement makes me see if I can make it all work,” Khouri says.

His landscapes reflect the big sky views of Nebraska, as seen in Rain’s Coming. The larger portion of the canvas reflects an impending storm and makes a colorful contrast to the bright green of a spring field.

The clouds and setting sun grab the attention in Night Comes On. The peach-themed clouds draw extra admiration as they reflect in the water. The darkened outline of the opposite shore adds contrast.

In Red Keel and Fulcher’s Fleet, the vessels are in the spotlight. In Red Keel, the primary colors are displayed, though blue is dominant, giving the sailboat a happy feel, nestled in a safe harbor. He has painted that ship and area near his home several times.

In Fulcher’s Fleet, the ships seem to be resting from a full day of hauling for Fulcher’s Gourmet Seafood. Having offloaded the catch of the day, they are in the lull before provisioning for another outing.

“Most of my work recently has been the harbor in Oriental. It’s a really quaint setting, with shrimp boats and a lot of visiting boats. We’re on the Intracoastal so we have a lot of traffic up and down the docks. Mainly it’s shrimp boats,” he says.

Ruddy Harbor catches the view from a tiki bar near Khouri’s former studio inside the Oriental art gallery, now closed. “That’s a view right across from the gallery. There was this red glowing sunset over the harbor that illuminated those boats with orange and red. I snapped a couple pics of that sunset at dusk,” he says.

He enjoyed feedback from people who would watch him paint in his former studio.

“I’d get a lot of ideas from conversations with people. A lot liked what I was doing, some would give input and then buy it after I was done,” he says.

Khouri has enjoyed the colorful sunsets off the waters in Pamlico County. His future work will likely include New Hanover and Brunswick County scenes when he and his wife move to the Leland area. His travels to France and Italy may also be themes in upcoming works.

“In the gallery I’m in now, I’m in with some incredible artists,” he says. “I’m the low man on the totem pole in that shop. It’s an honor to be in there.”