M. P. Callender grew up in an artistic family, his mother creating works in porcelain, paint,
fiber art and drawing, his grandfather a writer. An engaging art history teacher in high
school introduced the world of art as a reflection of the society in which it was created.
The love of great literature and art convinced him to study art history in college. He
graduated in 2010 with a BA degree in art history and got a job with a local art consulting
and appraising firm. His artistic outlet at the time was writing poetry, short stories and
novels. One of his short stories was published by “Compass” the literary journal for the
University of Illinois at Springfield. Two short stories were published in the debut issue of
“The Writer’s Literary Muse.” He had a poem published in The Colors of Life: The
International Library of Poetry. He currently has two completed novels awaiting the
attention of a good publisher.

In 2013, Matthew expanded his artistic outlets and began to produce drawings and
paintings. At first, his artwork was based on shapes, symbols and colors that flowed
naturally. However, the inspiration for the paintings in this show was a conversation with
two poet friends, Chelsea and Mark Wagenaar who were working on a series of ekphrastic
poems, poetry that attempts to vividly describe a scene or a piece of art.