Ken Keegan


Santa Cruz artist, Ken Keegan, hails from a working class family in Queens, NY, just minutes away from his Brooklyn birthplace. He is the only one of his natal family to become involved with the arts and writes,"I believe I just came to art as a fun thing, and whenever I teach art, that is my foundation."


Fantasy Landscape


Ken cites one of his earliest influences as the story,"Harold and the Purple Crayon" and claims that it had everything he needed at the time. He was attracted to the imaginative simplicity and sense of kindness that the story held and says that it made him smile and gave him the power to dream and persevere and battle evil . His chosen weapons were those of ideas and imagery.


The Journey West, a Parable

Ken considers black and white as the skeleton of a work while color to be the flesh and muscle and skin and the heart. His philosophy views art as an entity that can be "cerebral, revolutionary, intuitive and powerful" and believes that each artist chooses his or her own path. Ken says, "We choose art like friends and/or lovers. it's all personal."


Girl on a Swing

Keegan relocated to this area as a means to "find himself" and instead, found that the journey itself was as important as the destination. He continues to create every day and also considers music to be a big part of his work. Ken claims to see music when he paints... the rhythms... the colors... the stories. He feels that art is not a product, but a process of living. "Every day is different, every work an adventure. Read books by Kesey and Kerouac and Vonnegut and Brautigan-listen to jazz and gospel and folk and the blues and rock and anything that touches you. Art comes from communication.."


Family Portrait



Ken's latest artistic endeavors include the construction of artistic fountains. He enjoys the Zen of the physical work and the water flowing and the plant life. He utilizes solar power in his fountain work so he can include the sun in the mix.



"It's all good."