Autumn 2004

Rubber stamps

Rubber stamps. Collected and used by Tim Easton.

As a child growing up in England, I always wanted a John Bull printing kit. Anything typed and printed was more official than handwriting. When I finally got one, I spent hours creating letters and cards from my mini printing press.

Years later, on a trip to Los Angeles , I discovered a shop that sold nothing but rubber stamps. I would go there every time I was in LA and pick up new stamps. There were hundreds of images available – amazing. I am the kind of person that can never put one track on a compilation CD, I always have to fill it with music and words. The same goes for envelopes. I cannot bear to send an envelope with just an address on it: all that potential canvas going to waste!

So I usually add a few images from my rubber stamp collection. My favourite stamp is one I found in a secondhand shop in St. Augustine, Florida. It’s a cat on roller skates wearing headphones. I roller-skate at the skating rink on a regular basis, but that’s another story!

Tim Easton, actor, record collector, Santa Monica

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