Diversity Rules Magazine

5 Diversity Rules Magazine March 2015 in Hollywood (he's already stage managing in theater for a local theater company at 16 years old!); and my youngest is coming into herself – she enjoys singing and gymnastics. I've held various jobs in different fields, but the con- sistent areas in my life have been computers, art & entertainment, and magazine publishing. JRK: You are the founder and editor of GALA Magazine | LGBT Artists. Can you tell us about the magazine and why you started it? TJ: Yes, I would love to! Creating my own magazine has been a lifelong dream of mine. About seven years ago, I realized I needed to stop dreaming about it and turn it into a goal. I also realized that it wasn't going to just happen to me or for me – I had to make it happen. It hasn't been an easy pro- cess, but I've loved every single second of it. GALA's original mission was to give voice to unseen, unheard and undiscovered artists – to be that outlet that artists seek when they don't know where to start in getting themselves and their art out into the world. I know what it feels like to experience those feelings and that fear (whether real or imagined) of not being good enough. With GALA, here is a safe space – a starting out point. I didn't know what type of magazine to create. My initial thought was to create a gay and lesbian focused magazine for artists. I came out as bisexual 19 years ago when I was 18, and then as a lesbian several years later. I didn't know too many lesbian, gay or bisexual people. I wanted to know, to understand, to learn who I was. I needed someone to look up to, a mentor of sorts. My first girlfriend introduced me to Melissa Etheridge's music (laughing). I was floored. I was in awe. A les- bian public figure, a lesbian musician! Who else was out there? I googled every genre of lesbian artist, but 19 years ago – there weren't very many gay, lesbian or bisexual artists coming up in my searches. I wanted to change that. And so the idea of a gay and lesbian magazine for artists was born. I hadn't understood what transgender meant; and while I had initially come out as bisexual, I felt con- flicted about the label; so when choosing the name for the magazine, GALA stood for Gay and Lesbian Artists. e magazine, to me, wasn't about me – it was for "them" – the gay and lesbian community. I hadn't yet understood the difference between sex and gender, so I knew I fit in there somewhere, but I just wasn't sure where yet. One artist, a transgender woman, wrote to me and asked if I'd be willing to open the magazine up to the entire LGBT community, and so I did. I had no idea several years later how important that decision would come to be for me personally. JRK: You claim to be a visual artist - mostly ab- stract expressionism. What is "abstract expression- ism" for those who are not versed in various art forms? TJ: Simply put, it's a school of art referred to as action painting. e emotion put into the painting mat- ters just as much as the finished piece. My abstract art has been lik- ened to Jackson Pollack and Wil- liam de Kooning paintings. JRK: In your artist statement on your website you state that every piece that you cre- ate is based on love. Can you explain how your love expresses itself in your artwork? TJ: Somehow love finds its way into my paintings, ei- ther through painted hearts, or the word "love" – but most of my paintings are created to express my feel- ings surrounding love in various relationships with family, friends, children and animals, a love for art and music, a love for humanity, a love for spirituality, a love for the idea of love itself, and finally, self love! I have a tremendous amount of love in my heart. And the best, easiest and safest way for me to share it, is through my art. e very first canvas painting I had submitted to be on display at Trenton's Art All Night event was 'Col- ors of Love' – created with an abstract background Tegan James - Con't on page 6 WWW.GALAMAGONLINELGBT.COM LGBT ARTISTS W I N T E R 2 0 1 4 COUNTRY SINGER JESSE RAY THOMAS GETS PERSONAL WITH HIS FANS

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