How Painting Murals Helped Megan Najera Find Peace and Share It
In this interview for the Arts to Hearts Project, we speak with Fort Worth-based muralist and artist Megan Najera. Her calming, nature-inspired work brings beauty and peace into everyday spaces. Megan opens up about how her journey began—doodling as a kid, rediscovering art after becoming a mother, and finding deep purpose through painting florals and the human body.
She shares how living with anxiety shaped her creative process, and how turning to nature helped her find clarity, connection, and calm—something she now offers to others through her murals. As her work grows in scale and depth, Megan also talks about embracing more diverse and mature subjects while staying rooted in her mission to inspire hope and healing.
This interview taught us how deeply personal art can be and how creativity can transform spaces and lives.
Megan Najera is a featured artist in our book, “101 ArtBook – Nature Edition” You can explore her journey and the stories of other artists by purchasing the book here:
https://shop.artstoheartsproject.com/products/the-creative-process-book
Being creative was always natural to me! I was the girl doodling on her papers and drawing pictures for friends at school. It wasn’t until I had my son in 2012 that I decided to pursue it professionally, as an opportunity to be home with him as much as I wanted to. I started painting commissions for friends and family, which slowly evolved into selling my work, participating in local art shows and creating a name for myself. I found my style in florals and the human body. The connection is deeply associated with mental health and the positive association between nature and our brains. I struggle deeply with anxiety, and pouring that into my work has given me a way to talk about it, bring more awareness and relate to my audience. In 2021, I started muraling full-time! I started by painting my living room walls and sharing my process, this has led to a full schedule of working with businesses and residential homes. I hope to continue to study florals and capturing the human body, and in that way share my style, impacting the mental health world, in this large-scale form that I love so deeply.
1. What first drew you to mural work, and how did that shift your perspective as an artist?
I always wanted to paint murals. I was constantly painting my friends’ and my own walls! I think how large the ‘canvas’ is is very exciting and physical. I’m not only painting things I love and that speak to me, but I’m moving my body at the same time. Not only do murals transform a space, but they offer a chance to impact someone’s day, and I think that is a truly special opportunity.
There are no fences around you if you don’t allow them to be.
Megan Najera
2. Your murals often evoke calm—how do you approach creating art that helps reduce anxiety?
It’s really a matter of what helps me feel calm. Over the years, I’ve learned that being out in nature is the key to helping me ‘zoom out’ and see the larger picture when I may be spiralling about something or when my body is reacting to my anxiety. The intricacies of flowers are so fascinating to me that I say if nature can be created like this, then anything is possible.
3. How has your connection to botanicals and the human body shaped your creative process?
When I combine the two, it allows me to start a process of almost research. I’ve learned about so many types of florals and angles of faces, not only profiling and shapes but also lighting and colour. In many ways, I hadn’t necessarily thought they would fit. To me, they match effortlessly, and it puts me in such a state of flow when I paint specific flowers with a specific face or angle.
Incredible! I never thought I would be able to walk into places I grew up around and see my work, or meet someone following my career once they see my work. Being accepted into these small businesses has been so special.
If nature can be created like this, then anything is possible.
Megan Najera
5. You mention that your work is evolving into more mature content. What does that evolution look like for you?
I am working on a larger study on the human body, different genders, and races. I see more live figure drawing classes in my future. We are truly such beautiful creatures, and we speak so much just by our body language, which can be interpreted into my work.
6. As you expand nationally, what do you hope people take away from experiencing your murals?
It gives me hope and calm. It reminds me that you can change your life or your mental health whenever you choose to, that there are no fences around you if you don’t allow them to be, and that you are worth every ounce of effort and life you want for yourself. I actually created a colouring book, “There is Always a Reason to Colour,” to reflect these ideas so people can create their own works of art!
Megan Najera’s artwork is a vibrant blend of nature and humanity, rooted in emotional honesty and healing. Through murals, florals, and figures, she explores how beauty and stillness can soothe anxiety and reconnect us to ourselves. Her creative journey—sparked by motherhood and shaped by her mental health experiences—teaches us that art can be both deeply personal and powerfully universal.
From Megan’s story, we’ve learned that healing often starts with self-expression. Whether she’s painting a wall in her living room or a mural in a local business, Megan brings calm, hope, and authenticity into every space she touches. Her work reminds us that we are not alone in our struggles—and that creativity can be a gentle, meaningful path forward.
To learn more about Megan, click the following links to visit her profile.
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