Guest Contributor, Destiny Fulton

Sarah Thomas, a junior art and graphic design major, is excited to be back on campus full time this semester where she can continue to grow and adapt her art.

Thomas is using her painting skills to her advantage this year with her new series that she is calling “Therapy Session.”

“I’m calling it ‘Therapy Session’ because it is going over a variety of mental illnesses that some individuals may have and also, I’m kind of keeping it on a personal level, because I have experienced some of these things that I am getting ready to interpret and paint,” she said.

Thomas is aware that mental illness is something that many people deal with, and she is passionate about representing it through her work.

“Right now I have finished one, and I’m calling this one ‘Error.’ This one basically goes over anxiety,” she said.

Thomas says the art is her interpretation of how people with anxiety may begin to ask the questions: “Who was I then? Who am I now?”

“And that’s meaning that people who develop a mental illness, it alters their personality and they feel like they can never truly go back to who they were before they developed this mental illness,” Thomas said.

Thomas is currently working on two more paintings for this project and hopes to have seven to eight paintings overall.

“My overall goal for ‘Therapy Session’ is to spread awareness for mental health disorders and bring light to how serious they can be for an individual. I also want to let individuals who may suffer from these disorders know that they are not alone,” Thomas stated.

“Therapy Session” is a work in progress for Thomas, as she continues to come up with ideas for new pieces. She is not certain when she will be completed with her series, but she hopes to have it done by the end of her senior year so she can share her work at E&H.

E&H, for Thomas, is a place where her art is appreciated. Thomas has loved art ever since she was a young girl and, once she started attending E&H, her art style and love for art continued to evolve.

“Within my area, art isn’t really as appreciated as much as I would like or like it is in other places, so it was a little hard being able to do my artwork and advance whenever no one was really there to teach me,” she said. “But being in a college setting with others who enjoy it and that’s what they want to be when they’re older, as well, has really helped.”