Farewell, mr ‘Toastman’: Wellington-based artist Maurice Bennett has lost his battle to cancer at 59. A well-known grocer and former owner of New World Island Bay, he made his name for making burnt-toast portraits of several celebrities and famous characters, including Elvis Presley, US President Barack Obama, the Mona Lisa and PM John Key. The idea, he explained, came to him while he was having a barbecue. His portrait of film director Peter Jackson was displayed at the Wellington International Airport in 2004.
You can watch the Toastman at work in this video:
