Wv Uncommon Place

My name is Kimmy, I am the creative behind the bipolar Butterfly Project. I am a self taught , accidental art activist using my experience with mental illness as inspiration for the @bipolarbutterflyproject Hoping to raise awareness and help end the stigma on mental illness. I originally built my brand, @Makikisart (Mama and Aunt Kiki mooshed) with custom hand painted stemware and with the help of social media, I was shipping world wide. Business was booming and I was struggling to keep up before I had my 1st major manic episode. I am Bipolar 1 with Generalized and Anxiety Disorder. I painted a butterfly in the midst of that yet-to-be- diagnosed episode and later realized how well it not only suits the dual sides of Bipolar, but all mental illness. How on one side we try to show our best, most beautiful selves even when we may be crumbling on the other. I received such an overwhelming outpour of response from the mental health community when I shared about it, I decided to paint a whole series. One day while