Barack Obama has has his re-election given the stamp of approval – with is portrait of the US president made entirely of stamps.
Retired art teacher Peter Mason used over 3,000 postage stamps to create the colourful collage to honour Obama as he successfully won a second term in office.
The 3ft by 4ft artwork was compiled over three weeks using different stamps and tearing them down the middle to illustrate Obama’s features.
Peter, 64, used a combination of traditional British and American stamps to create the amazing artwork.
Stamps featuring the Statue of Liberty were used to create the blue background on the American flag with Uncle Sam hats and the White House appearing on the white stamps which were used to illustrate Obama’s necktie.
The grandfather-of-two said: “It was more relief than anything when Obama was re-elected. I wish him all the success for the next four years because I think he has done a great job.
“He represents different cultures, ethnic backgrounds, and youth groups and has done a fantastic job of uniting the country.
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“I did it because I wanted to honour such a historic president.
“And within weeks of it being displayed at an art gallery in Birmingham – a US tourist visiting the city came and bought it off me for a four figure sum.
“I’ve since sent one of the prints of it to the White House – but haven’t heard anything back yet.”
Pete added that he believed it was important to use some American stamps in the artwork and is disappointed that circulation numbers are dropping.
He added: “Stamps are an important part of a country’s identity and it is such a shame when I receive a letter from America which has just been franked rather than having a proper stamp.
“Luckily I have some good contacts over there and was able to get hundreds sent over to help me finish the piece.”
Peter, who lives in Hednesford, Staffs., with his wife Jane, 63, has also used postage stamps to recreate images of Gordon Brown, Princess Diana and David Beckham.
He also created an image of Bruce Forsyth, which was presented to the TV veteran to mark his 80th birthday in February.
