I’m looking to interview artists, professional or otherwise, and art educators who draw inspiration from visits to Texas state parks. I’m interested in hearing how they experience the parks, how they translate those experiences into their art, and what guidance they can offer to others to enhance their park experience.

As very involved in the realm of creativity and self-expression, I could not think of a better emotion fountain than the wild nature in the state parks in Texas. These parks are not physical premises but breathing canvases that awaken all of the senses. No other place can address the imagination with the language of color, form, and surface that the parks address. And I can notice how often these families enter these parks, and the next good thing is when the mother tells that it is time to eat dinner and go home after a whole day of adventures. The children have no wish to lose the light-heartedness of the natural world and are so energy-giving and curious. However in this moment both joy and sadness fill the air- a sense that the attachment to this location, as to so many other things in life, is not permanent. As an artist, I understand that bitter sweet beauty of not wanting to fall in love and not wanting to fall out of love. And this sensuality of nature, in my instance, reaches my art, and I lose its happy visiting and its quiet walkings. I would invite the other artists to walk behind me: not to see the park only, but feel its breathing and give the breathing a running start. Real inspiration is created in that un-refined, flashy kind of moment.

As a professional artist living and working in the Texas Hill Country, I find endless inspiration in our state parks. A hike at Pedernales Falls or an afternoon sketching at Blanco State Park often makes its way into my work—whether it's the layered textures of limestone, the vibrant greens after a rain, or the warm, fading light at sunset. When I translate those park experiences into art, I focus on capturing the feeling of the landscape rather than an exact replica—how the air felt, how the water sounded, how the light shifted. That's what connects with viewers. My advice for others is simple: bring a sketchbook or camera, but spend the first few minutes just observing. Notice colors, shapes, and rhythms in nature. When you slow down enough to let the park set the pace, your creative work becomes not just a reflection of what you saw, but of how you experienced it.