Austin, TX

JONAH: "I have always doodled and in college, I would use sketch books for my notes and draw during class. It’s always been something I’ve done but art really opened up for me when a friend of mine looked at some of my work during my freshman year. She was an artist too and said, “You have something really unique here and I think you should work hard at this and keep going.” That really inspired me to get a little more serious about it and then it progressed to a point where I decided that making art is what I wanted to do with my life.

In the past, I've done art activism, mostly with theater, but what I really want to do is create graphic novels and stories that have trans and queer characters in them. Not just in the melancholy trope that surrounds queer and trans characters. I want to create very accessible stories that queer and trans people can relate to.

I’m not really making a lot of money off of it now but it just feels really nice to get my work out there. I sell my work cheap so I can scatter it and give it to people need it. My business model is “Steal from the cis and give to the trans.” My goal is not to make money off my community but if a cis person wanted to pay a bunch for my work I would be down so that way I can give my work to trans folks. I am writing a book but work full time too. It’s a lot of work but I am motivated to get it done."

Check out Jonah’s art on Instagram: @j_onahwelch

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