Drawing, photography, community/performance art, socially useful production and inclusive design

I trained as a fine artist at Edinburgh College of Art in the 60s, and although I have done many things since, I have never lost contact with the hand and eye skills I developed there.

Photographing and drawing the modern landscape is my way of trying to nail down the growing tension between human beings and the natural world. Living in the fens allows me to explore the agricultural landscape and the way it is shaped by urban demands and intensive farming practices.

I taught at Leeds and St Martins art colleges and was a founder member of ‘The Welfare State’ community arts group, which carved out a reputation for innovative celebratory events and street performances.

I also worked on community-based renovation projects, acquiring the designing and making skills that I applied to developing socially useful products and services through the GLC technology networks and later at the Royal College of Art in London, where I set up what is now a flourishing centre for ‘inclusive’ design.

I left the RCA in 2008 and alongside my photography and drawing I design and make furniture in my workshop/studio which I open in July as part of Cambridge Open Studios, along with my ceramacist wife, Sally Reilly.