Local artist donates to Jack & Jill online art sale

(Above) Deirdre Orme.

What do Deirdre Orme from Crookedwood have in common with Bruce Springstein, Bono, clothes designer Paul Costello and rugby internationals Peter O'Mahony and Joey Carberry?

The answer is that Deirdre and Bruce and Co have all donated pieces to the Jack & Jill Foundation's Incognito online art sale, which takes place tomorrow.

Over 1,800 pieces of original art will be on sale online from ten o'clock tomorrow morning. Each piece is 15cm by 10cm and is priced at €50. The buyer will only find out the identity of the artist after their online purchase has gone through. Some of Ireland's most acclaimed artists including Robert Ballagh, Susan Cairns, Peter Curling, Stephanie Hess, Don Conroy, Mo Kelly and Vincent Devine, have also donated pieces for the fundraiser, which is now in its fourth year.

Deirdre has created artwork for Incognito each year and for the 2020 instalment has actually donated three pieces. She says that she is thrilled to be able to contribute to such a worthy cause.

A graduate in Visual Communications and someone who has “always had a creative streak”, Deirdre says that creating pieces for Incognito has reawakened her passion for painting.

“I suppose this initiative in one way has actually pushed me to produce artwork. It's an initiative I am very passionate about. Anyone that knows someone who has been sick and has needed care, especially when it's a child, it really touches the heart. All of the money raised in the sale goes to source to help young children who are having to be nursed along. It's a great cause,” she said.

This year's Dublin sale, part two is scheduled to take place in Cork in September with 900 pieces, was due to take place in the Sol Gallery before COVID-19 put pay to that. Instead, Friday's sale has now moved online and the works of art can now be viewed at incognito.ie. Each piece will be sold on a first clicked, first served basis and each person will be limited to a maximum of three purchases.

Each €50 purchase equates to three hours of specialist home nursing care for one of 340 Jack & Jill families. The foundation provides specialist home nursing care and support to children with severe neurodevelopmental delay who may never walk or talk themselves.

Speaking at the launch Carmel Doyle, CEO of Jack & Jill, paid tribute to Deirdre and the other artists who have contributed pieces this year.

“Yes, we’ve had to move the sale online this year, but nothing can take away from the wonderful, high quality collection of art donated to Jack & Jill and we are so grateful.

“With artists from across the country contributing, this is just another example of how, as a nation, we come together to help others.”

The sale will start at 10am tomorrow and will last for seven days. If you would like the view the pieces of art go to www.incognito.ie.