Jessica McKeehan Spotlight
Jessica McKeehan
Written by Liv Barton, July 2025
Back in 2011, Jessica McKeehan began her journey as an artist. Putting pencil to paper, she started to create. Art has been a part of her life for as long as she can remember, attributing her artistic roots to her creative mother. She started with the basics and with time McKeehan became more comfortable with drawing. By 2018, McKeehan’s personality really began to shine through her work. 2020 derailed everyone’s plans and McKeehan took that time to take care of herself. In 2021, McKeehan started her academic career at Central Ohio Technical College pursuing digital media. The shift from being self-taught to being in class and learning was a new experience for McKeehan to navigate.
“It was a little eye-opening, for sure.” McKeehan was able to build upon her skills and techniques in new ways at COTC.
McKeehan’s life experiences are woven throughout her work. Over the course of her life, so far, she’s moved 19 times. The places she’s traveled and hopes to travel are beautifully depicted in a wide range of mediums. Her work ranges from digital artwork to traditional drawing. Mostly, she enjoys working in the digital space. In her creative process, there’s a certain focus that goes into traditional drawing, while creating digitally allows her the space to allocate her focus more efficiently.
When asked how art takes care of her, McKeehan considers art as a guide through life’s hurdles.
“There’s times where it just doesn’t seem to work,” but after she works through her process, “I notice that it does.” Stepping back from a piece, or a moment, McKeehan is able to see how turning to art allows her to navigate life.
It’s overwhelming to break into the art world, now more than ever. With advancing technology influencing art and daunting headlines everyday, it’s even more difficult to remain optimistic about the future of creating. This is something that many artists are being forced to grapple with. McKeehan tries to remain positive on art and the community built around it.
“I know art will always be out there.” For now, McKeehan plans to keep her side of the street clean and continue creating.
