I am Anthony Jefferson Hanson, an artist from Sekondi in Ghana’s Western Region. My creative journey began beside my mother’s sewing machine. As a child, she gave me scraps of paper from her sewing patterns to keep me occupied, and I began drawing the people and everyday scenes around me. Those discarded pieces became my first canvases, while my mother became my earliest supporter and most honest critic.

After moving to Accra in 2011, my practice began to reach a wider audience. A portrait I created for Joselyn Dumas gained attention on social media and led to commissions from across Ghana. Since then, I have painted presidents, traditional rulers, politicians, actors, religious leaders, and people from many walks of life. My subjects have included Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor, John Dramani Mahama, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and Idris Elba.

My work explores identity, memory, culture, and the stories carried through the human face. Through portraiture and mixed media, I seek to preserve more than appearance—I aim to capture presence, experience, and meaning.