Stage Talk with Rick Koster
Where every show has something to say.
Paint is expensive and Air Force pants are warm: A conversation with artist Charles Reyburn
Quick! Name even one artistic discipline that hasn’t been featured in the Garde at one time or another.
Hmm. Well, yes, it’s true the Garde didn’t host Aleister Crowley’s apocryphal attempt to summon the Great God Pan, but that’s only because the renowned sorcerer’s backstage hospitality demand — that he be served all the brown M&Ms that Van Halen had ordered removed from their backstage riders — was just too much.
Otherwise, the many-splendored Garde experiences are extensive and even include exhibitions by local artists installed in the Garde lobby or on the mezzanine. The latest show, From New London, by hometown painter Charles Reyburn, opens with a reception on Dec. 18 — almost 50 years after his first-ever public showcase at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum — and runs through Feb. 3.
Recently, Reyburn, 70, genially spoke about his life, his work, and From New London. Here are excerpts, edited for space and clarity.
The Garde: I’ve heard you’ve wanted to be an artist since you were a kid, which is an astonishing bit of self-awareness. We’re the same age, and when I was in grade school, all I was worried about was my next Halloween costume. Frankly, that’s still all I worry about. But, given your lifelong devotion to art, what has your chosen discipline taught you about life?
Reyburn: I took a children’s class at Lyman Allyn when I was eight or nine, and I just remember it was so amazing to walk into that museum and see that work. It made a huge impression. In sixth grade at Harbor School, I wanted to be a commercial artist. Then I started doing political cartooning at Pomfret School and, eventually, got my BA in painting at RISD. So I tried a lot of styles.
In fine art, I’ve tried to live a normal life. I didn’t rush off to get a loft in New York or try to get hooked up with a gallery or whatever. I enjoy working with my hands and for years I worked as a carpenter at Electric Boat before retiring. But I’ve always pursued painting as a creative outlet that I love. I’ve sold quite a few works over the years, but I never expected it or counted on it.
I guess I’d say my approach to creativity is a philosophical form of expression and invention for its own sake.
Garde: Here’s an even more complex question. Can you tell a goofball from Texas like me the correct pronunciation of (approximation of) “en plein air,” and is it fair to say that’s your chosen style of painting?
Reyburn: (Laughs and says the phrase flawlessly). You mean “going outside and painting,” right?
And, yes, that’s how I work. When I was in college I knew an older woman — probably a little older than we are now but it seemed really old then — and she had a very nice antique Grumbacher easel box. She said, “Charlie, if you like this, you could have it because I’m just not using it much anymore.”
And I took it and I did use it! It finally fell apart, but by then that was how I painted. It’s just that classic easel that you hold with your thumb through it. You know, like you see pictures of Cezanne with one. I carry the box with all the paints in it, or in a backpack, and it’s like carrying your studio with you.
Garde: It’s fair to describe your painting as Impressionism. Given the whole “outdoors” aspect of (correctly pronounces) en plein air, do you have a favorite season in which to paint — both in terms of comfort and aesthetically — and has that changed over the years? Do you feel guilty if you don’t like one season as much as the others?
Reyburn: Ha! I love painting in winter, and a lot of my work reflects that. But — and you can probably relate — the cold gets harder to deal with when you’re older. However, at about the same time I got the easel from that older lady, my roommate at RISD said, “Hey, they’re selling Air Force pants down the street.” We went into this room and there were piles of these pants pilots wear and they’re incredibly warm because, you know, these guys are up there where it’s really cold.
I still have a pair of them 50 years later and they still keep me warm. What am I getting to? That I can still paint in winter, and I like being out alone. There’s a simplicity to the season.
Summer and spring are great seasons to paint, but, the way I work, I choose an object or scene or person out of thin air and that’s the basis of my composition. So if you go down to the beach when it’s warm, there are people everywhere. The trees are all full and there’s a lot of activity. And I like people, but they’ll come up and say, “Hey, what are you painting?” We start talking and I don’t get as much work done.
More and more, I have to say I love the fall because the colors are so beautiful. Observing the seasons, it’s easy to wonder how they (separately) affect each of us. For me, even after all these years, they’ve been very helpful as they continually change and I continue to bumble around and try to learn to paint.
Garde: Here’s a not particularly thought-provoking question, but it’s sorta practical. Is it expensive to paint in oil?
Reyburn: Paint is not cheap! I use Windsor Newton paints, but the way I work, I don’t use a lot of paint. I can’t imagine being an abstract painter now, just throwing huge amounts of paint like Jackson Pollack. He used house paint back in the fifties, but paint is vastly expensive. And I also work in watercolors.
Garde: Talk about growing up as a future Impressionist in New London. Were you already experimenting with that style even though you went through different phases?
Reyburn: The lighthouse on Pequot! As a kid, you could go right up to it and wander around and look at the view. There was so much to see, so I did quite a few watercolors even back then. It was a lot of fun and a great learning experience. I’d put the drawing down and get the light and the perspective, then fill in the colors. Even now I get happy and joyful doing that, whether with watercolors or oil.
Garde: You’re also very prolific. You’ve just had a show at Washington Street Coffee and now you’ll introduce several new works here.
Reyburn: Yes. There are a few older pieces for the Garde, and that’s interesting because, for me, it seems I did those a lifetime ago. But I’ve painted a lot of pieces since 2015. Sometimes I’m amazed by the paintings I’m doing now. Other times (laughs), I think I haven’t changed that much.
Garde: It’s also true, right, that you weren’t really aware the Garde did art exhibits until Trish from Blissworks yoga studio told you about them? And I guess it helps that Trish is your wife.
Reyburn: It is true. I’ve appreciated and been in and out of the Garde many times over the years, but I don’t think I’d fully realized the scope of what Steve and Jeanne Sigel and the staff and the Board of Directors have accomplished.
I remember seeing Yellow Submarine in the Garde when I was in junior high. It’s much different now, of course, and it’s become just a perfect venue and organization.
Anyway, after Trish left her State Street studio in the summer of 2024, Jeannie and Steve worked with her to create a space at The Garde, and it’s worked out well. I’d been doing yoga with Trish since 2014, and we were married five years ago. Long story short, Trish mentioned my art to Jeanne and one thing led to another. When they offered to show some work, of course I said yes. As someone who grew up in New London, I’m really honored to be able to do this.