Hand Made Wood Sculpture of Seated Ashanti, "Ashanti History"

"My name is Peter Turkson Kwame Boakye and I was born in 1970 in Accra. I carve wooden sculptures and craft drums. My friends say I am patient and jovial. that I tease them a lot.

"I started by buying and selling handicrafts. Then, I decided to learn how to carve and a friend trained me for four years. I learned how to carve and do antique finishing. When I first started learning, most of the figures my colleagues and I carved looked like us.

"Starting on my own wasn't easy. I worked for my friend for two years, then bought some tools and materials. After that, I opened my own workshop, where I sold my carvings.

"I then traveled to Benin and worked there for six years. One evening, it rained so hard and heavily that it flooded my room. I had to sleep outside for days because the rain ruined most of my things. When I returned to Ghana, my workshop had been taken over by someone else. I've been working from home since then and have taught five people how to carve.

"It's wonderful to practice an art I love and be able to make a living. Constant practice let me master this craft and I went the extra mile to work harder. I had to re-create all of the items my teacher asked me to carve again.

"Because of my art, I was once hospitalized for knife and chisel cuts, but I never gave up and encouraged myself to work harder. The quality I seek in an assistant is a person's ability to shape figures.

"My favorite part of this work is the finishing and how unique my creations look. I use sese wood, potassium, local clay and acrylic paint. My community benefits from my work because I am happy to help those who want to learn how to carve."