The Artistry and Storytelling of Nick Bantock

Nick Bantock is a storyteller and artist, best-known for his Griffin & Sabine series.  His books contain lush collages of ephemera that help illustrate the story and transport the reader. Most often the stories blend the action of travel, the interactions of romance and the lure of a touch of mystery.

a brief biography of Nick Bantock

Nick Bantock was born and educated in England. He worked for many years designing book covers and illustrations. After his relocation to Canada in 1988, he decided that he'd try working on making books of his own. When the first Griffin and Sabine book debuted in 1991, it was an instant success and the public has been eagerly awaiting and reading each fantastical story every since.

Bantock's imagery is known for his use of "found ephemera," utilizing old maps, postcards and photographs along with bits of illustration and rubber stamps. All these elements get assembled into both subtle and complex collages. Bantock has also created a rather extensive series of pop-up books which combine his illustrative skills and wonderful eye for design.

The Griffin and Sabine series tells the wondrous tale of two people, corresponding via conventional letters and postcards, who are separated by both space and time. What makes these books unique is that you see the postcards and letters themselves, front and back, fictional postmarks and all. With letters you often will remove the paper from an envelope that is actually part of the book and unfold it to read it.

The first book instantly captivated the public and, lucky for us, there were many books which followed. The story and the art remained intriguing throughout the entire series and with re-reading many new details and nuances are often found.

Some of the history and evolution of one of the most captivating fictional romances ever!

The Griffin & Sabine stories were just a single trilogy originally. However love that strong can't be denied and the fantasy romance was rediscovered by Isabella and Matthew, two lovers living apart in Egypt and Paris. Matthew receives a curious package one day, containing 65 cards and letters: the correspondence of Griffin Moss and Sabine Stroheim.

I just happened to be on a road trip with my father in the spring of 2012. We were headed to an art gallery on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, Canada in an attempt to get an old family painting appraised, but in the end, the gallery owner blew us off. He'd emailed just three days before that he'd be in that weekend, but by Saturday he'd suddenly taken off for parts unknown, leaving behind a snarky assistant who tried to talk us into leaving our painting behind so it could be appraised at their leisure. We put the painting back in the car.

Across from the gallery was a book store and as it seemed to carry good used books and had the wonderful name of Black Sheep (my name means "black sheep") I felt compelled to stop in. I was browsing around in their wonder shelves when I realized I had walked past a small room that had a sign over the doorway that read "Griffin Room." Sticking my head in, I nearly swooned. It was a whole room DEVOTED to Nick Bantock, who just happens to live on the island! Sadly I couldn't afford the autographed copy of the pop-up Jabberwocky so I had to make do with a picture.

But if you'd like to meet Nick in person, the woman behind the counter said that he tends to drop by on Saturdays around noon...

Let us know what you think of this unique author and artist!