 Something of a local legend on the Peninsula for his acerbic wit and eccentric character, Colburn was an active member of the artistic community, teaching, writing art criticism for the "Carmel Pine Cone", executing public murals, and exhibiting in galleries and museums throughout California, and in Colorado, New York, and London.Colburn gained his substantial reputation as a watercolorist and for his early paintings of the Monterey Peninsula in Northern California.He depicted the fisherman and activities around the wharf and in the canneries, and the hills and farm buildings around Salinas and Carmel Valley.