The new U.S. postage stamp honoring Mother Teresa has local ties. The artist who painted the portrait being used is from Colorado Springs.

The 44-cent stamp showing a portrait of the Roman Catholic nun was unveiled during several ceremonies all around the globe on Sunday. Also in attendance at the ceremony in Washington, D.C. was local artists Thomas Blackshear II, from the Springs.

Blackshear says he was contacted and honored that his artwork was used for the Mother Teresa stamp. He says he was initially given several pictures of the famous nun to draw. He sent back three different versions, and the one with her smiling made the final cut.

Blackshear say the decision to use the smiling portrait is important to honoring Mother Teresa's memory. "I Believe that it makes her seem like she's full of life. Most of the time you see her, and she's got this real holy look, real sad look, so you know this showed that she was a woman full of life. So I think it was a good choice," said Blackshear.

And Blackshear is no beginner in the stamp designing field. He's created portraits or paintings used as the model for more than 20 different stamps, including stamps used to honor Black History Month and Jazz music.