The Reflections Project
The Reflections Project is a 'healing portraiture event.'
Happening annually in Helena Montana the Queen City of the Rockies hosted by Toni Thomas in partnership with local female artists, photographers, and donors who give their spaces, their time, and their talents to make this event possible.
"The first year of the project all I wanted to do was heal my own pain," said Toni Thomas, the founder of the project. "Most artists express or heal their pain on a canvas which can be painting on a canvas, a wall, furniture, or other inanimate objects. My canvas is the female face, I paint faces and for me, the result of applying makeup to a face isn't in the way a woman looks when we are finished but the way a woman feels. Even a small amount of makeup can give a woman confidence and a sense of appreciation for herself."
The Reflections Project was a way to help me heal my pain using my art and giving it to others but after the first year of the project, I realized it also helped other women who have never experienced a portraiture event by giving them the opportunity to see themselves in a new way and begin to heal from their own trauma.
We all have trauma to deal with in our lives and having an event where women can gather in a safe environment with other women in their community and escape the realities of life even for just one day is a gift we all need at least once in our lives. Most of the women who have attended this event are working through a traumatic event such as the death of a loved one, a divorce, a loss, an abusive relationship, loneliness, abandonment, depression and even medical conditions. These struggles are real to those suffering and most of the time they're suffering in silence.
My hope is that this event can give each woman attending a chance to share a beautiful experience with others in a stress-free and safe environment.
