My husband, Martin Rogers, who has died of cancer aged 61, was a printer, carpenter, sculptor and publisher. A highly inventive man of vision, he was happiest when engaged in new projects, playing with his favourite tool – the imaginary. Imbued with a subtle ironic humour, he was modest, selfless and caring.
Martin was born in Croydon, south London, and grew up in Caterham, where he won a scholarship to attend Caterham school. A background in printmaking and graphic design, which he studied at the Bath Academy of Art at Corsham Court, Wiltshire, and Brighton College of Art in the 1970s, proved invaluable to his publishing projects. He was generous with his time, notably through running the Research Group for Artist Publications, facilitating publications for visual artists, by working with them to explore the possibilities of combining their visual work with print in book form; he also worked with sound artists using similar principles (producing books accompanied by CDs).
In 2001 he set up the Small Publishers Fair in London, initially at the Royal Festival Hall and for the last 10 years at the Conway Hall. It soon became an international event for artists, writers and poets. The fairs were complemented by exhibitions: one held last autumn celebrated Hans Waanders, a Dutch artist whose work centred on images of the kingfisher, Martin's favourite bird.
Martin was also keen to promote the work of artists who produced books, as with an exhibition of the work of Sol LeWitt at Site Gallery, Sheffield, in 2010. This was followed in 2012 by a collaboration to bring Eugen Gomringer, a leading figure in the field of concrete poetry, exploring the possibilities of typographical arrangement of words, to Britain for a week of events.
In 1976, Martin met Simon Cutts, the director of Coracle Gallery in Camberwell, south London, who launched many successful sculptors. He warmed to the ideas that Martin was working with both as a printmaker and sculptor and invited him to show in the first of many exhibitions at Coracle. His sculpture at that time was often playful, as in his Instruments for Outdoor Use, where he made imaginary instruments, combining natural materials such as slate, or bells, which he cast, with beautifully crafted wooden supports. Martin also began showing through the Victoria Miro Gallery in 1986 for four years, in London, at the Frankfurt Art Fair and at its outlet in Florence.
Martin and I got married last August, after 15 years together. He is survived by his son Tomas, siblings Judy, Elizabeth, Christopher and Ian, and father Rowland.