Andy Gill didn't know Hannah Ahlers.

But he painted her portrait as if he did.

Gill was one of three Moncton artists chosen to be a part of the Las Vegas Portrait Project.

The project brings together 58 artists — one for each person killed last October in Las Vegas in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

The project was organized by artists and cousins Ellen Abramo and Kortney Struempf, who were inspired by their experience with the 49 Portraits Project, organized after the mass shooting in an Orlando, Fla., nightclub.

Gill was one of five Canadians selected to do a portrait for the Las Vegas project. Fellow Moncton artists Natalie Pineau and Heather Bickford, and two Quebec artists, Agnès Robin and Stéphane Bergeron, were also chosen.

It could have been me. - Natalie Pineau , Moncton artist

Each portrait will be given to the victim's family on the one-year anniversary of the massacre.

"These were just people enjoying a night out with friends," Gill said.

Brian Ahlers, Hannah's husband of 17 years, will get her portrait.

Hannah's story

Alhers, 34, was attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas with her husband when Stephen Paddock opened fire from his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

He killed 58 people and injured almost 500.

Gill, of Moncton, talked to Alhers's husband after he saw the portrait online. (Pierre Fournier/Radio-Canada)

Hannah Ahlers, who lived with her family in Beaumont, Calif., was a stay-at-home mom to her three children ages three, 11 and 14.

She grew up in Redlands, Calif.

"She wasn't too good for anybody — beautiful inside and out," Brian Ahlers said in a statement to the Redlands Daily Facts.

Connecting with the family

After posting his portrait of Alhers online, Gill got a message he wasn't expecting. It was Brian Alhers, whose mother-in-law had discovered the portrait on social media and immediately told him about it.

"He was thrilled to finally be able to contact the artist who painted the portrait of his deceased wife," Gill said.

The Las Vegas Portraits Project brought together 58 artists —​ one for each one of shooting victims —​ from around the world to draw their portraits. 0:50

Gill described the conversation as a heartfelt one and said he wanted to keep it between Alhers and himself.

"His wife was just instantly gone and it's crushing," he said.

Alhers asked Gill to visit, and he hopes to go to the memorial if the artists are asked.

2 more artists

Natalie Pineau said choosing to do a portrait of Jessica Klymchuk just felt right.

"It could have been me," said Pineau, who is about the same age as Klymchuk and also has four children.

She discovered the Las Vegas Portrait Project through Gill's Facebook.

Klymchuk, a 34-year-old mother of four from Alberta, worked as an educational assistant, librarian and bus driver at St. Stephen's School in Valleyview, northwest of Edmonton.

This is the portrait Natalie Pineau of Moncton did of shooting victim Jessica Klymchuk. (Natalie Pineau/Submitted)

It took about eight hours to complete the portrait. Pineau said she started with Klymchuk's eyes.

"The eyes are the window to the soul."

The portrait includes the words "In loving memory of Jessica."

Heather Bickford also learned of the project through Gill and wanted to participate.

She chose to do a portrait of Rocio Guillen Rocha because she felt so similar to her.

Rocha was a 40-year-old mother of four from Eastvale, Calif. Her youngest child was only a month old. She attended the concert with her fiancé.

"I hope they love it," Bickford said. "I hope it captures a little bit of her spirit for them."

Bickford's portrait is about half-finished.

The organizers

Ellen Abramo said she knew as soon as she heard about the shooting that she wanted to do something.

"I was overwhelmed with emotion and wondering how I could reach out and help," said Abramo, whose father died about the same time as the shooting and inspired her with his compassion.

The organizer of the Orlando portraits project wasn't able to do something this time, so Abramo put an ad in her local newspaper in Pennsylvania and started a Facebook page.

The project went international, with artists from the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, Greece, Peru and Canada, as well as the U.S.

Abramo couldn't say exactly how many people applied but it was a lot.

"There are caring people all over, who, when tragedy strikes it gets us in the heart," she said. "There are still good people out there."

The deadline for all the portraits is June 1 and the art will be displayed at a Las Vegas gallery for the month of October.