I finished this painting and can't tell you how much it means to me. I am so thankful to the volunteers! I asked them two questions. How does mental illness make you feel and what do you want others to know about it? They opened up and told me their stories and shared their photos. This was a heartbreaking process for me to hear these stories. Especially when two of the people aren't with us anymore. Their family members shared their stories. I hope I honored them as I wanted, but also stuck to the harsh reality: mental illness kills people and makes them suffer in silence. As a society, we need to end the stigma and demand better healthcare and better and more facilities to help people in crisis and long-term. I will be donating 10% of my profits at my art exhibit in May to NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and selling prints where I will be donating 25% of my profits to NAMI.