They are the composers of creativity and they have roamed the world, hunting for images to inspire all.
Before retiring a year ago and being immersed in painting, Bradley Scott Burner, 64, worked at the State Compensation Insurance Fund as a safety consultant. His wife, Linda Detwiler-Burner, 54, apart from being a professional photographer, is a non faculty classified staff employee at the El Camino Financial Aid Office, which she joined in 2002.
The couple met through an the online dating site, match.com, in 2010, and two years later, they got married. When their relationship was in it’s budding stage, Detwiler-Burner said they had talked about the joy of having their works shown together which became a reality as they started showcasing together in 2012, the year they got married.
They are both currently featuring their artistic work at the El Camino College Schauerman Library in Torrance.
“It is important to show our work so other people can appreciate it. If not, it just sits at home,” Burner said.
Detwiler-Burner has been showcasing her photos since 2008 at El Camino College before she met her husband, and 2018 is her 10th fall showing.
“I started taking pictures since I was 8 years old, when I got my first camera, but I went all digital in 2008 when I got a nicer camera,” Detwiler-Burner said.
The Public Access Librarian, Gary Medina, who has assisted the Burners with setting up the exhibitions for the past couple of years, worked with Camila Jenkin, the Outreach Librarian this fall to manage the art display.
Medina said that this year’s showcase is a little different as the installation is done in a more traditional style.
“A brand new art display system was installed in spring as [Jenkin] wanted to try something different with some cluster arrangement,” Medina said.
Detwiler-Burner’s biggest challenge was the struggle to find the theme and mixing their art work together.
“How do I incorporate his work with mine? Mine being photography and his is oil painting,” Detwiler-Burner said.
Library Media Technician, Cindy Lopez said the lobby gets a lot of traffic passing through and the current display is popular with different people asking about the artists.
“It is really cool that we have our staff’s art work displayed. [Detwiler-Burner] is a big part of El Camino. She is expanding her collections. Any time she shows, it is always something different,” Lopez said.
In this modernistic age of social media, Detwiler-Burner said that she does not put her pictures on Facebook because she doesn’t want them to be “stolen.”
“I have opened an online store and I’m hoping people will start buying,” Detwiler-Burner said.
Detwiler-Burner uses her Facebook to promote her events, but showcases through her website lindadetwilerburner.com. She does however visits the Flickr site but not Instagram.
“It brings me joy. Watching students and staff come out and admire what they see makes me feel good,” Detwiler-Burner said.
As it is a milestone achievement for Detwiler-Burner, some art work will be swapped from time to time for people to see something fresh.
Just like in music, where singers have put their old and new songs together, Detwiler-Burner said she sees this fall display as her “greatest hits album.”
Photography Professor Darilyn Rowan said that Detwiler-Burner was one of her outstanding students and she was proud of her work.
On Thursday, Oct. 4, Rowan brought her photography students to view and learn from Detwiler-Burner’s work and invited them to the art exhibition which was held on Friday, Oct, 5.
Rowan said she will continue to bring some of her classes to teach and look at the photography this fall semester.
Burner said that he loves nature and landscaping, and painting pictures of places they have been.
“We like to travel, visit different places. It is my therapy,” Detwiler–Burner said.
For an opportunity to meet the Burner’s and purchase their artwork, they will have a booth at the 22nd Annual Ponies at the Pike, Mustang Car Show, at Shoreline Park in Long Beach Sunday, Oct. 14, from 7 a.m. – 4 p.m. The event is free and open the public. Regular parking rates will apply.
With a haystack background at Eastview Park, Detwiler-Burner will be photographing for the Pet and Family Portrait event in Palos Verdes Saturday, Oct. 27, 3:30 – 6 p.m. The photos will be free and available for download on her online store website.
