New Zealand artist Maurice Bennett, known as The Toastman for his unique portraits of celebrities crafted from pieces of toast, has died this morning after a long battle with leukaemia.
Mr Bennett, 59, passed away this morning at his Wellington home, family say.
He is survived by wife Carolyn, and daughters Julie and Sonya and three grandchildren.
![Maurice Bennett in front of his toast mural of Jonah Lomu at his New World supermarket in Island Bay, Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/AXWXHKQU2YEWTOFKNWUGWHV35A.jpg?auth=f27fde3ab57b49990085affc149890c3eac0c65ec8e6ecb790fc88010fc30ad8&width=16&height=12&quality=70&smart=true)
Mr Bennett's quirky style of cooking thousands of pieces of toast to various shades and piecing them to make large pixelated images of famous people drew him worldwide acclaim.