Toronto-based painter Matt Bahen's primary influence is literature. He strives to interpret the power of metaphor and allegory with paint. Bahen listens to audiobooks while working in his studio and is an avid reader of fiction, in particular the writings of Cormac McCarthy, T.S. Eliot and Joseph Conrad. His impastoed surfaces and stark compositions are at once unsettling and highly engaging. Using various motifs including water, fire and animals, Bahen constructs individual

Thomas McCallum has spent the past few years travelling the countryside, a jack of all trades, writing songs as the trees flash by. He has been a camp cook, seminarian, worked in downtown Fort McMurray, hitchhiked, helped with the hay, picked blueberries, and netted fish. McCallum has shared the stage with many inspiring musicians as tin whistler or with supporting vocals and guitar, especially singer-songwriter Al Tuck. Interview by Rebeccah Love How would you describe your