Artist  ·  New York

I paint where
people gather.

I'm Anam Ahsani Safdar, an artist in New York. I paint murals and canvases for the cafés and restaurants they hang in — a whole wall in a day — and I work events: sold-out art classes for rooms of a hundred or more, caricatures drawn live in minutes, and commissioned pieces for weddings.

Based inNew York City
Available forCommissions, classes & events

Murals & Public Art

Walls, cafés & restaurants

I make work for the places that serve it. A man dreaming of chai on a restaurant wall. A woman holding a Qahwah House mug, hanging inside Qahwah House. A portrait with a Philz cup, sitting on the counter at Philz. The venue's own cup ends up in the painting, and the painting stays in the room — work you meet while you're waiting for your order, not in a gallery.

The Mural

San Francisco
Mural of a reclining man in a turban dreaming of a cup of chai, painted on a restaurant staircase wall in San Francisco

Chai Dreams

Painted along the staircase wall of a San Francisco restaurant — a man stretched out on a charpai, hookah at his feet, dreaming of a cup of chai. The stripes climb with the stairs, so the piece moves with you as you walk up. Start to finish in one day.

Medium
Acrylic on interior wall
Painted in
One day, start to finish
Location
Restaurant, San Francisco, CA
Year
20XX

On Display

Hanging in cafés now

Paintings made for the cafés they live in — each one holding that café's own cup.

Painting of a woman in a pink headscarf holding a Qahwah House mug
Qahwah HouseAcrylic on canvas
The Qahwah House painting on display on a shelf inside Qahwah House
In the roomOn display at Qahwah House, West Village, New York
Painting of a woman holding a Philz Coffee cup, displayed on an easel on the counter at Philz Coffee
Philz CoffeeAcrylic on canvas · On display at Philz Coffee, Fremont, California

Art Classes

Large-scale & charitable

I teach large-scale charitable art classes — including one event with more than 200 people painting in the same room. They sell out.

Teaching at that scale sharpened the things I care about most: making people feel welcome the second they walk in, keeping a big group moving together, and getting everyone out the door with something they made themselves. I've run them on both coasts — the West Village and East Village in New York, and San Francisco.

Book a class or event →

200+guests painting together at a single class
2coasts — New York & San Francisco
Sold outevery class shown here
Sold out Art class — West Village, New York
Sold out Art class — East Village, New York
Sold out Paint class — San Francisco, California

Live Caricatures

Drawn on the spot
Anam drawing caricatures at her Anam's Cartoons stall at Macy's, a customer seated in front of her and shoppers watching
Anam's CartoonsMacy's · Free caricature with a beauty purchase
Star Wars themed caricature of a couple drawn in ink and watercolour
Star WarsInk & watercolour · Drawn on request

I've drawn live caricatures at Macy's and at the Creative Communal Art Fairs in San Francisco and Oakland — expressive portraits made in minutes while talking with the person in the chair and keeping a line of guests moving. At Macy's I ran my own stall on the beauty floor, drawing a free caricature for anyone who made a purchase: the art was the draw, and the queue was the point. Fast, loud rooms. People tell me what they love, I put it in the drawing, and everyone leaves with something.

Drawing Live

Video
Drawing live at Macy's
Creative Communal Art Fair, Oakland
Live event

My Own Wedding

I painted every piece

When it was my turn, I made all my own wedding art — the welcome sign for my shaadi, and the visuals for my mehndi. If you're trusting someone with the art for the biggest day of your life, it seems fair that they've done it for their own.

@anamahsani
The welcome sign for my shaadi
@anamahsani
My mehndi art

Wedding Commissions

Sample pieces

A few samples. Couples commission me to draw them before the wedding, and the piece is set out for guests on the day — a welcome sign by the flowers, a framed portrait on the gift table, something that stays on their wall long after. Every one is drawn from scratch for the couple, so yours won't look like these.

Wedding caricature of Samad and Kiran displayed on an easel beside red roses at their wedding
Samad & KiranInk & watercolour · Welcome sign at the reception
Framed wedding caricature of Nida and Mueen displayed among candles and roses
Nida & MueenInk & watercolour · Framed for the gift table
Framed wedding caricature of Aamna and Haris sharing a bubble tea
Aamna & HarisInk & watercolour · The bubble tea was their idea
Yours
next
Commission a piece Drawn from your photos, ready for the day

About

Statement
Portrait of Anam Ahsani Safdar

My grandmother taught my mother to paint, and my mother taught me. That's the whole origin story — no art school, just a kitchen table and someone willing to hand the brush over.

My family has always been my first and most loyal audience, and I think that's why I've never been drawn to making art that sits quietly in a studio. The version of creativity I grew up with was something shared — it happened alongside conversations, family gatherings, and everyday life. To me, art has always been less about displaying something finished and more about creating moments that bring people together.

Public art and community work feel like the closest way to recreate that on a larger scale. Whether it's a mural that brightens a street people pass every day, a classroom full of adults who arrive convinced they can't paint and leave proudly carrying something they made, or a live portrait sketched in the middle of a busy event, the goal is the same: to make art feel welcoming, participatory, and accessible. I want the work to be handed over, not simply observed.

Over the years, I've been fortunate to paint murals, teach sold-out large-scale painting classes in New York and San Francisco, and create live caricatures and portraits at weddings, corporate events, and community gatherings. Each experience has reinforced how meaningful it is to create alongside people rather than apart from them.

Looking ahead, I'd love to continue expanding that work through public-facing commissions, partnerships with community organizations and cultural institutions, and classes that reach people who may have never been told they're creative — or that making art is something they're allowed to do. If my work can help someone feel a little more connected, a little more confident, or simply bring a moment of joy to a shared space, then I feel like I'm carrying forward the tradition that began around my family's kitchen table.

Let's make something

Get in touch

Available for murals and café commissions, art classes, live caricature at events, and wedding pieces.