Named after Merle “Ting” Tingley, The London Free Press editorial cartoonist from 1948 to 1986, Ting Comic & Graphic Arts Festival is an annual celebration curated by TAP Centre for Creativity. The festival showcases the work of past, present and future comic and graphic artists from Southwestern Ontario.
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This festival is an homage to Merle Tingley's work and his influence on generations of artists. Tingfest is a rare forum for emerging and established artists to present their work to the public. This festival features free events and programs.
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This year's festival takes place from Friday May 1st to Saturday June 6th. The opening reception is on Saturday May 9, from 6PM-9PM featuring a special opening night performance. You won't want to miss the party!
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The 2026 Luke Worm festival logo was created by Ting Artist Antony Hare.
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Check back for this year's list of Tingfest events!
This festival is made possible with the generous support of Lina and Chris Bowden of Cambia Development Foundation, Heroes Comics, Dundas Place, Chops Framing Supplies, Western Libraries Archives and Special Collections, Tourism London, and Downtown London. A special thank you to Cameron Tingley and family for their support.
Lina and Chris Bowden
2026 ARTISTS
This year marks the 10th year of the festival and features the work of artists from previous years. Meet the artists at the opening reception on Saturday May 9th, 6PM-9PM
featuring a special opening night performance.
Merle “Ting” Tingley
Ting was editorial cartoonist for the London Free Press for over 40 years (1947-1986). His illustrations attracted a loyal following, not only in the Free Press but across Canada in more than 60 daily and weekly publications. His famous cartoon mascot, Luke Worm, is a widely recognized icon in the Canadian comic scene.
Well-loved for his caricatures of local politicians and business owners, Tingley was admired for his ability to capture not only the essence of everyday moments but also the important issues that challenge a community in a thought provoking way. His work is a record of the political and social events of our region and as such have become an important archive of the history of our city. The work has received national and international awards and recognition.
Ting’s illustrations continue to inspire generations of comic artists in Southwestern Ontario. Discover, or rediscover, Merle’s clever wit and commentary in the selected work for this exhibition.
Aidan Urquhart
Aidan Urquhart received a Fine Arts Diploma from Fanshawe College in 1991 and his Bachelor of Arts degree in Visual Arts from the University of Western Ontario in 1998. Urquhart was an artist-in-residence at McIntosh Gallery (1998) and the Banff Centre for the Arts (2000). Urquhart works in a variety of media including drawing, painting, collage, and mail art. His works frequently borders between playful and dark through subversive and political ideas. Urquhart has been the recipient of several Ontario Arts Council Exhibitions Assistance Grants. Urquhart has exhibited in solo and group shows at galleries across Canada including the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Dunlop Art Gallery, Museum London, St. Thomas-Elgin Art Centre, and the Art Gallery of Windsor. His works are held in private and public collections including the Canada Council Art Bank, National Archives Ottawa, Museum London, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Glenhyrst Gallery Branford, St. Thomas/Elgin Art Centre and the McIntosh Gallery. He continues to keep busy making art and exploring new ideas on a daily basis.
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@aidan_urquh_art
Antony Hare
Antony Hare is an illustrator, art director, and animator active in the digital space since 1996. Known for his elegant line work and sophisticated vector portraiture, his compelling visual narratives have been commissioned by publications like The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, bridging traditional draftsmanship with digital innovation.
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@antonyharepi
Ben O'Neil
Ben O’Neil is an illustrator, writer and designer living in Toronto. He is the author of the comics anthology Apologetica and creator of Anonima: Tarot of the Nameless, a tarot deck that combines esoteric symbolism with medieval fantasy and sci-fi psychedelia. For several years now he has co-hosted and organized Pen Cap, an open-mic reading night in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood that provides a platform for both emerging and established writers. Some of his illustration clients include Jacobin, Phish, Exclaim! Magazine and Socialter. His next project, an anthology of recent comics and experimental fiction called SOP Vol. I, will be released in 2027.
@imbenoneil
Billy Bert Young
Billy Bert Young is a London, Ontario–based artist and educator whose practice is defined by
constant reinvention. Rather than settling into a single style or medium, his work shifts direction every few years, moving between painting, drawing, graphic experimentation, and
research-driven studio projects. Young approaches artmaking as an ongoing process of testing visual languages; building them up, breaking them apart, and rebuilding them again in new formats.
A lifelong fascination with graphic culture runs through his work. Growing up with comics,
advertisements - specifically MAD Magazine, Young developed an early appreciation for images that are irreverent, layered, and packed with cultural references. That sensibility continues to shape his practice, where high and low visual traditions collide and humor often sits beside darker or more philosophical ideas.
Alongside his studio practice, Young teaches fine arts at the post-secondary level, where he
encourages students to embrace experimentation, risk, and the freedom to change direction.
His own practice models this philosophy: each body of work becomes an opportunity to rethink the last one. In recent years he has produced several new painting projects, given artist talks, and continued developing research into image-making, storytelling, and the evolving role of visual culture in everyday life.
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@billybertyoung
www.billybertyoung.com
Brenda Fuhrman
I am a visual artist focusing on drawing, painting and print. I currently live, primarily, in London, Ontario but divided my time between London and Montréal, Québec.
From 1975 to 1999 I lived in Sudbury, Ontario. During my time in Sudbury I contributed posters for the women’s movement, in general, and specifically for the Sudbury Women’s Centre and the Northern Lights Folk festival. I also had the privilege, during one miner’s strike, of drawing a comic book for the children of striking miners. The comic explained the history of and reasons why their parent’s were on strike. For a number of years, I produced editorial cartoons for Sudbury’s weekly newspaper, Northern Life.
Since leaving Sudbury I have attended law school, at Queens University and Graduated in 1995. In the spring of 2012 I started art school and in 2019I graduated with my Bachelor of Fine Arts- studio, from Western University.
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Whether it is through drawing, printing or painting my works communicate my version of the world. I present community, home, and friends, everything that I experience around me. I find the everyday fascinating.
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My current work is focused on the collective production of Comic Time, a one page (double-sided) monthly comic showcasing several London, Ontario comic artists.
I hope to continue developing my comics with collaborative works being the focus because comics are the most democratic of fine art.
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Cai Sepulis
Cai Sepulis is a Canadian illustrator and designer whose work combines bold graphic shapes with textured, hand-drawn warmth. With over 20 years of experience, she creates playful, story-rich images that reimagine everyday objects, where cassette tape becomes yarn, sardine tins hold tiny worlds, and familiar scenes take on slightly surreal twists.
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Her practice spans editorial, branding, and personal work, with a focus on creating images that feel both immediate and enduring (and endearing). Using limited palettes and strong compositions, Cai builds work that is visually striking, a little unexpected, and grounded in a sense of curiosity and humour.
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Cai is also a co-owner of regional publication TOQUE Magazine, where she creates illustrations and short comics for its near-quarterly issues.
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Cai is based in Guelph and always looking for new ways to make ordinary things behave a little differently.
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@caisepulis
Christopher Runciman
"I use sequential writing and illustration to demonstrate methods of exploring character, dialogue, relationships and scenarios. I teach storytelling, aiming to inspire others to utilize artistic ways of communicating imaginatively."
In his One Page Extravaganza stories, Christopher works with prompts from his online audience, his imagination is inspired to take logical and artistic leaps. Experimenting with a number of styles and mediums, he plays with colours, words, and the audience's expectations. Christopher completes the varied stories and then shares them online the next day. Two hardcover collections of these stories have been released with a third on its way.
Since 2015, Christopher has facilitated the London Comic Jam at TAP Centre For Creativity, is the Art Director of the London Comic Con and owns Runciman Press Publishing.
This year Christopher is releasing the third hardcover volume of One Page Story Extravaganza as well as an 80 page stream of consciousness hardcover. He presents and teaches classes on storytelling at schools, ranging from elementary to post-secondary as well as to community groups of all ages. A fun way he engages people is through drawing live from their suggestions.
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@christopher_runciman_canada
David Collier
David Collier was born in Windsor, ON on the coldest day in that city's
history. Maybe that influenced his willingness to work in remote Resolute, NU, 50 years later. His most recent comic book is Collier's Family Daze, published by the Glenhyrst Gallery of Brantford, in conjunction with the exhibition of the same name.
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Dave Lapp
David Lapp is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design and the University of Western Ontario (B.A. Psychology). He has been teaching cartooning at the Art Gallery of Ontario for over twenty five years. Dave has created four graphic novels, Drop In, Children of the Atom, People Around Here, and The Field which have been published by Conundrum Press. Dave’s work was chosen for the Best American Comics series for 2010, 2011, and 2016. His work has also been nominated for an Ignatz, Doug Wright, and Eisner award. The Field was a recipient of a Lynd Ward prize.
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@davelappcomics
Derek Laufman
Derek Laufman has been a professional comic artist and illustrator for 25 years and resides In London, Ontario CANADA. He studied classical animation at Sheridan College, and for several years now Derek has been drawing and creating his own comics and graphic novels including Ruinworld, Bot-9, The Witch of Wickerson and his newest series Crimson Fall. Derek is also a freelance illustrator who has worked with Marvel, DC, DreamWorks, TOPPS, Hasbro, Mattel and the new artist on Skottie Young’s I HATE FAIRYLAND from IMAGE COMICS.
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@dereklaufman
Eric Vedder
Eric Vedder's career has spanned over 25 years in the entertainment industry. From comic book artist, illustrator, animator, painter to concept artist and art director, he's had the pleasure of working on many high profile projects.
Currently he is the Concept Director at Digital Extremes, a triple A studio responsible for the
smash hit game, WARFRAME and soon to be released SOULFRAME.
Alongside this, he is a card carrying member of The RAID Studios in Toronto, since 2008. His
forthcoming cinematic novella AARDEHN: Awakening, is a cyberpunk-fantasy thriller co-
created with writer S.M. Carter.
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In 2017, he began co-hosting the War With Art podcast, focusing on the creative struggles we all face with art.
He also enjoys martial arts, chopping wood and making fires.
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@eric_vedder_illustration
Jeff Lemire
Jeff Lemire is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of such graphic novels as Sweet Tooth, Essex County, Underwater Welder, and Mazebook as well as co-creator of Black Hammer, Gideon Falls, Descender, Little Monsters, The Bone Orchard, Phantom Road and many others. He has worked extensively for both Marvel and DC Comics including a celebrated run on Moon Knight which heavily inspired the 2022 Marvel television show. His graphic novels have been translated into dozens of languages, establishing him as one of the most prolific and acclaimed comic book creators of his generation.
Sweet Tooth has been adapted into a popular Netflix original series produced by Robert Downey Jr., and Essex County was adapted in 2023 into a 5-part prestige television miniseries starring Molly Parker, with Lemire both writing and showrunning the production. Many of his other books are also in active development for film and television.
Jeff has also collaborated with award-winning musicians such as Eddie Vedder on his Matter of Time animated video and the late Gord Downie on Secret Path, an animated film and graphic novel.
Lemire lives in Toronto, Canada.
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@jefflemire
Jeremy Bruneel
Jeremy Bruneel is a freelance artist/illustrator who was born outside Chatham, Ontario. Jeremy currently lives in London and primarily works doing portrait painting, album cover illustration, book illustration, and concert poster design. Jeremy's work features imaginative characters that often draw inspiration from his childhood experiences and the emotions of growing up in a small town. You will discover in his art his various interests; comic books, his love of music, and classic horror iconography.
Jesse Jacobs
Jesse Jacobs works in comics, illustration, animation, and video games from his home in London, Ontario. Characterized by precise and detailed linework in combination with bold and simple colour palettes, his comics contain an affiliation with psychedelia, pop-spirituality, and alternative realities. His books have been translated into several languages and his work has been exhibited throughout the world.
His comics and illustrations have appeared in a number of publications, including McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, the New York Times, and Best American Comics. His 2018 release Crawl Space won the Doug Wright Award for Best Book. His most recent effort, New Pets, is published by Hollow Press in Italy.
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@jacobs_comics
Joe Ollman
Joe Ollmann is a cartoonist who has lived in Hamilton most of his life except for fifteen artistically productive years in Montréal. With a professional career spanning 35 years, his work has appeared in a wide range of publications including The Paris Review and Best American Comics. In 2019, he co-curated This Is Serious at the Art Gallery of Hamilton, a show of 47 indie cartoonists from across Canada. The exhibit won the Ontario Art Gallery Association Award for curation. He is the author of nine graphic novels, one of them, Mid-life, won a Doug Wright Award for best book and several others that lost that same award since then. His 2021 book, Fictional Father was short-listed for The Governor General’s Award, the first time a graphic novel was nominated for that award. His most recent graphic novel is The Woodchipper.
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@oldjoeollmann
Matt James
Matt James is an author, illustrator, painter and musician. Matt’s books have won many awards including the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, the New Mexico Book ​Award and the Governor General's Award for Illustration. He illustrated When the Moon Comes by Paul Harbridge and I Know How to Draw an Owl by Hilary Horder Hippely. The books Matt has written include Tadpoles, Nice Try, Charlie! and his author-illustrator debut, The Funeral, which was named a New York Times and New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Book. As a child Matt James liked to trace comics and pretend that tennis racquets were guitars —now he lives in Toronto and behaves more like a grown up.
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Scott Chantler
Scott Chantler is the creator of the critically-acclaimed graphic novels Squire & Knight, Bix, and Two Generals, which was nominated for two Eisner Awards, selected for Best American Comics 2012, and voted by CBC's Canada Reads as one of the 40 best Canadian non-fiction books.
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His other work includes Northwest Passage (nominated for Eisner and Harvey Awards) and the Three Thieves series (winner of the Joe Shuster Award for Best Comic for Kids and listed by YALSA as a Great Graphic Novel for Teens). In 2015, he served as Cartoonist-in-Residence at the University of Windsor, the first cartoonist to be appointed so by a Canadian university.
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He lives and works in Stratford, Ontario, Canada where he is hard at work on his next project.
@scottchantler
Scott Brian Woods
Scott Brian Woods is a Canadian comic artist with over 24 years of experience in
illustration and design. He is the artist on superhero title, Equilibrium, published by Lev
Gleason/Comic House, featuring Captain Canuck, and many Canadian legacy
characters. Co-creating a full-length original graphic novel with writer Duane Murray
(Better Place, Who Are The Power Pals?), to be released spring 2027. Scott self-
publishes comics Daring the Sun, No Rask for the Wicked, Black Helm Saga (with Jeff
McClinchey), Pulp Art Book 1 and the children’s book Anywhere Can Be Everywhere.
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He is also member of Power Pulp Comics collective, built to uplift original voices and bring
boundary-pushing work to a wider audience. When not drawing comics, Scott is a
Freelance T-shirt Designer, often illustrating and designing art for the Canadian apparel
company Retrokid.
@scottbrianwoods
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soft flirt
soft flirt makes tender art for gentle hearts.
With a focus on screen-printed apparel, tattoos, illustrations and mural painting, forest city artist Alayna Hryclik infuses her ethos of softness into various art making techniques.
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With one short but beloved year of BealArt and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (‘13) from Western University, Alayna’s history of art making is tied to London. You can find her work all around the city if you know where to look -- covering walls with tender murals, tattooing the locals, collaborating on merchandise for local businesses & clothing community members with comfort.
soft flirt has a passion for curating local connections through community events such as Punk Rock Flea Market, Soft Fest, Print Pop and more.
@softflirt
Curious about our previous Tingfest artists? CLICK HERE