Writing, Research & Editing
It pays to be a generalist, I’ve found.
I’ve written, researched and edited a wide variety of monographs, surveys and exhibition catalogues on artists and artworks ranging from the 17th century to the present day. And whether I was working in the artist’s studio - as they described their techniques and motivations - or holed up in some dimly lit basement archive, I’ve never forgotten just how wonderful it is to learn about a uniquely creative process, and what a privilege it is to be able to communicate this to others.
Now, I use my research experience to provide informed UX, copywriting, and design for clients, whether they need websites, apps, or help and support in realising their own publications.
Here are just some of the books and catalogues I’ve written and edited:
David Blackburn MBE
Blackburn approached landscape as a series of elements that could be re-shaped to communicate “the relationship between the unnoticed and the infinite” - which he believed was the only sincere response any artist could offer their world.
Image: A Landscape Vision #2, 1986 - private collection, UK
Laurence Edwards - A Thousand Tides
Short documentary about sculptor Lawrence Edwards.
I decided to leave a life size bronze figure lying in the mud, to let it slowly sink, joining the Saxon bodies buried at Snape and Sutton Hoo, to create my own archeology and maybe make a myth.
Producer / Director Phil Cairney
David Bomberg (1890-1957)
Bomberg’s Last Paintings in Ronda - paper delivered as part of the III International Congress of the History of the Serranía de Ronda organized by the Institute of Studies of Ronda and La Serranía and the Real Maestranza de Caballería de Ronda.
Miles Richmond (1922-2008)
An introduction to the English painter - student and friend of David Bomberg, and founding member of the postwar Borough Group of painters.
Producer / Director Phil Cairney