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TRUE TO LIFE - Randolph Husava '73-'74 draws inspiration for his art from nature. He's shown here in front of one of the flowers he loves to paint for their color. |
Randy Husava ’73-’74 started college as a pre-medical student, graduated as a writer and lives as an artist.
By Kate Day Sager
Portraits Contributing Writer
As a small child, Randy Husava ’73-’74 was unable to draw but loved art so much that he would order his older sister to create his drawings while giving her explicit instructions on what to sketch.
These days, the Pitt-Bradford alumnus is so adept at painting his own luscious, vibrant brand of flowers and wildlife and drawing his own graphite nudes that the art world has taken notice.
In September, Husava (pronounced who-SA-va) was the featured artist at Philadelphia’s Aphrodite Gallery on South Fifth Street with his collection of male nude graphite portraits titled “Animus.”
While the featured show at the erotic art gallery is an honor for Husava, it isn’t the first time his work has been showcased. His shows have been displayed at a number of Philadelphia galleries over the past two decades and have included exhibits at the High Wire Gallery, The Plastic Club, the Art Alliance and the Vox Populi Gallery. He also competed in the Manhattan Art Competition with honorable mention in 1994.
“It’s not exactly eroticism,” Husava said of his latest exhibition, which consists of male figures done in graphite or pencil, “but the gallery owner saw my work and liked it.”
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Petunia with bud |
He also noted that the Animus show isn’t his largest; he has had a much bigger exhibit with 28 pieces of large floral art displayed at the William Way Center in 2002.
When Husava attended Pitt-Bradford in 1973 and ’74, the campus was still in its infancy with a few townhouses serving as residence halls and the former hangar on the grounds used as a dining hall.
Although he was a writing major and would go on to obtain his bachelor’s degree from the university’s Oakland campus in 1977, his love of art and nature was stirred when he would climb the hills surrounding the Bradford campus. When he wasn’t in class or studying, he was walking in the Tunungwant Creek that flowed behind the campus or hiking in the nearby hills.
“I went up in the hills all weekend and knew them like the back of my hand,” Husava said in a telephone conversation from his South Philadelphia home. “Bradford is a beautiful place, and it was very natural to me because I grew up like that.”
He described his boyhood home in McKees Rocks near Pittsburgh as a “transition zone between rural and urban communities.”
“When I was little, I went out and played all day, and there were apples, cherries, peaches and berries” in the surrounding area, Husava said. “I also had the Ohio River nearby and fished there; when I look back on it I’ve often thought I had an idyllic childhood.”
He likely was influenced to draw and create art by his sister who enjoyed drawing as a child but didn’t pursue it in later years.
“Before I could draw, I would command my older sister to do my drawings. I told her what to do and where to put it,” he said.
His sister would go on to study medicine and is now an anesthetist. She also owns a couple of her talented brother’s art pieces. Husava noted that he had initially intended to study medicine himself but changed his pre-med major after starting college.
Get to Know . . .
Randolph Husava '73-'74- Majored in writing and graduated from Pitt-Oakland in 1977
- Enjoyed hiking in woods near campus while at Pitt-Bradford
- Grew up in McKees Rocks near Pittsburgh
- His first job was as a staff writer on a small Louisiana newspaper
- Studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia
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Husava also believes his exposure to nature in his youth has influenced much of his art.
“Fish, birds and plants have been a constant, but it’s flowers that allow me to explore color,” he said. “I love vibrant color, and my paintings love a large, bright, sun-drenched room.”
After receiving his degree in writing, Husava moved to Louisiana and worked as a staff writer and photographer for a small newspaper. Later, he moved to New Orleans where he lived in the French Quarter and began taking art seriously.
While there, he attended the McCrady School of Art in the Quarter. To make ends meet, he worked as a salesman for Dixie Art and sold materials to local artists. Husava also sold some of his own paintings in New Orleans but realized he needed more art instruction under his belt, especially in the area of drawing figures.
Consequently, he moved back to the North where he enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. He had to leave in 1988 after two years of study because of financial difficulties and found work as a salesman with the Taws Artists Materials Company. Fortunately, he ran into a former professor from the academy who reminded him that he had talent and dedication and should continue on with art.
“I took what he said to heart and set up a studio in the basement of my home,” Husava said. He said his longtime domestic partner is very supportive of his work and doesn’t complain when he uses the kitchen table, which has plenty of natural light, to work on 36x 40-inch drawings.
Husava also continues to work for Taws where his art gets plenty of exposure through the company and has led to sales of his work.
Despite his success, Husava said he doesn’t feel as though he has completely arrived in the art world.
“I don’t feel like I’ve made it because I can’t live entirely off my artwork; it’s difficult to do,” he admitted. “I can’t imagine in five years what my art will be, but it will always have nature in it.”
Gina Fowler of the Aphrodite Gallery said Husava is a well-respected artist in the Philadelphia area.
“He has some really great pieces in the gallery,” Fowler said. “He’s been around a really long time and he’s a really good artist. We’ve already received some positive responses” on his show.