Not too many mixed0media masters creating ephemera-laden epistolary literature weaving intriguingly mysterious relationships, international time shifting, plus pop-up books, tarot cards, and postcards. As such, meeting the master of of all of the above, as well as a well-trained fine artist (who also happens to be exceptionally prolific) was a thrill for me. Say hello to the affable Brit, now Columbian, Mr. Nick Bantock.

I “introduced myself” via a letter to a reading he was giving which i was unable to attend (illness) but we started a correspondence – i mail him dossiers of stationery, stamps and whatnot from around world and he sends me the most remarkable postcards and books.

Our stories again intersected when I was on my way to the post office in India when I got the news that my mom passed. Later, from her home in Logan Utah, I mailed him the package, and when I met him in Victoria, he kindly inscribed my Mom’s copy of “Griffin and Sabine” providing a most wonderful signature with stamps of various kinds.

Later I participated in his workshops (about writing 100 words *exactly* long story). While I was certainly *not at my best* after recovering from another long ramble, certainly enjoyed his company and tutelage very much in his now-closed studio space, appropriately dubbed “the forgetting room”.

In this charming studio space (in a restored loft in Victoria, BC’s Chinatown), was the “illustration that started at all” in the Griffin and Sabine series, framed and propped up against the wall next to yes, the toilet.

Such respect. More to share about postal encounters with this gent.