The Hill Country’s Liza Proch decided to create something that people could take home after visiting Fredericksburg: a coloring book with landmarks and the signatures of the city. Following the book’s success, she released another in May — this time all about Luckenbach Texas.

She’s gathering ideas for yet another coloring book, full of “good things inside,” as her slogan says, and is also in the process of designing a series of stickers for the Texas State Parks, alongside the Fredericksburg-themed stickers she already sells.

“I love what I do, and I believe I’m called to this,” she said. “I’m called to make the world a more beautiful place through the art that I create.”

Proch sells postcards made from illustrations in the coloring books. All of the elements she sells intertwine to create a package of tangible memories of a trip or time in the Hill Country, she explained.

After receiving the first batch of printed coloring books, her brothers, Beecher and Ezra, wheelbarrowed  boxes of copies into the family house.

“I had 1,500 coloring books stacked in my bedroom, and I thought, if they don’t sell, I will be stuck with this for forever.”

The Fredericksburger sold out of all 1,500 copies and is restocking them alongside the new Luckenbach coloring book.

Hondo’s famous words, “you can’t forget memories” are featured in her new book, along with several other poems the local legend wrote.

For the unincorporated Texas town, she leaned into the town’s lore. With help from Cris Graham and Kit Patterson from Luckenbach, she created pages appropriate for the book, including cowboy boots, its few remaining buildings and Hondo.

Her work has been very focused on collaboration, allowing her to float between various art-minded positions.

Although Proch continues  to paint, illustrating coloring books allows her to create templates for others to follow. She said she likes how interactive the process is: people can draw pages and keep them for years to come, like souvenirs. As she’s painted floral scenes since she was young, she incorporates them into the coloring book for a feelgood style.

“It’s a book that you can take home and you feel like you’re taking a little piece the character and personality and rustic charm of Luckenbach,” she said. “A coloring book is fun because you get to be a part of the story and give it your own kind of spin.”

She’s drawn images of a couple in traditional German clothing, armadillos, cowboys with fringed button-downs and bandanas, peaches, wildflowers and the state of Texas with landmarks like The Alamo, Rio Grande and NASA drawn out. They’re playful and quintessentially Texan.

The first doodle for the Fredericksburg coloring book was a page of peaches, drawn on a sheet of loose leaf paper. From there, she decided to draw more Fredericksburg-themed scenes, and eventually compiled enough for a full book.

“I’m called to make the world a more beautiful place through the art that I create.”
— Liza Proch

She migrated toward a digital system to streamline her process. Drawing in Procreate (a digital illustrating and designing app on her iPad) offers more flexible creativity —  wherever she is.

Proch enjoys listening to music, podcasts and audiobooks of classic literature while she works. She says she likes to keep her mind engaged and stay constantly learning.

Aside from occasional bouts of the all-consuming “imposter syndrome” (thinking you don’t deserve to be where you are) things have been smooth-sailing since deciding to follow a path as a full-time visual artist.

“I think impostor syndrome is just a way of our brains trying to tell us we’re not actually who God made us to be,” she said. “And, I don’t believe that.”

Raised in a creative household, it was no surprise to anyone when Proch began an art-focused business.

“If God had not intended for me to be an artist,” she said, “He would have given me different gifts.”

Previously, she and her brothers were in a band together, called Willow City. She’s been working on her creative endeavors since before she left the band and her brothers signed with a record label. She’ll  sometimes still sing with the boys, and they help her spitball coloring book and sticker ideas.

Embracing freedom as an artist allows her more space to  encourage others, she said.

The souvenirs are to be shared with other people and can be kept in prominently-seen places, like a coffee table. They’ll spark conversations and stories will be shared.

The coloring book, postcards and stickers are seemingly just the beginning of Proch’s design work. But, more than design branding, she’s leaning more into the joy of making something people can carry with them.