Imagine you painted a portrait of Barack Obama and mailed it directly to the White House. Even if they had the time to open the package, they would probably destroy the paint while checking it for traces of ricin.

But that wasn't the case when local artist Benjamin Abana in January painted a portrait of Danish prime minister Helle-Thorning Schmidt and mailed it to her office as a gift. He was answered with a thank you note, and not with a trip to Guantánamo Bay.

The letter simply read: "Thank you for sending the painting" and was signed by the lady herself. It’s uncertain, however, if the painting now hangs in her office as the artist intended. 

"I gave the painting to her as a gift because I wanted to show that I think she's doing a great job," Abana said.

Governing ain't easy
He urged his fellow countrymen to keep in mind how fortunate they are to be close to the people who run their country.

"I'm happy to live in a country where our politicians are so publicly available that we can send them gifts. Even if they sometimes get involved in scandals, we should appreciate when they do a good job. Running a country is a major task after all," he said. 

So far, Thorning is the only politician to get one of his paintings that can all be seen on his website and on Instagram.