A RUGBY fan has created a huge portrait of former Scotland player Doddie Weir – made from more than 10,000 postage stamps.
Michael McGee, 62, spent six weeks selecting stamps from his extensive collection to put together the two-metre-long design.
Weir was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in 2017. McGee, a retired dentist originally from Glasgow but who now lives in Trinidad, was inspired to make the art after a close friend died of the condition. The large portrait, made from stamps from every country Weir played against, has been flown to Edinburgh and will be auctioned off at a dinner on Friday to raise funds for Weir’s charity foundation and a school’s bursary charity.
McGee, who has Parkinson’s disease, said: “I was inspired by the inner strength of this giant of a man, Doddie Weir. Stamps can be beautiful. Why leave them in an old stamp album? l feel I am giving them a new life.”
The stamps are, on average, about 60 years old, according to McGee. They are from each British monarch’s reign from Queen Victoria onwards and include 10 penny reds and 10 jubilee halfpennies.
McGee said: “Doddie’s positive stance makes him a hero to all people who have to suffer adversity. The reaction to the piece is heartwarming.”
The portrait will be auctioned off at a “Dinner for Doddie” at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh which will raise money for Weir’s My Name’5 Doddie foundation and a bursary charity at his former school, Erskine Stewart’s Melville.
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