Cork artist Cora Murphy on her inspiration and making a living from art 

Fancy buying a piece of original art for a bargain €70, while ing a worthy charity?

Now in its ninth year, the Incognito art sale is taking place this month, whereby artists and celebrities produce postcard-sized artworks, and the public can purchase a piece with no idea of the artist behind the work until after buying it.

It’s in aid of the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation. To date, Incognito has raised more than €1.2 million in funds to the in-home nursing and respite care provided by the foundation.

Some of the names taking part in Incognito 2025 include singer/songwriter Róisín Murphy, TV cook Donal Skehan, professional dancer Arthur Gourounlian, fashion designers Don O’Neill, Simone Rocha and Helen Steele, Cork’s Olympian legend Sonia O’Sullivan, broadcasters Joe Duffy, Jenny Buckley and Maia Dunphy, as well as professional artists Maser, Mo Kelly, Leah Hewson, Mick O’Dea, and Mim Scala.

Cork-based artist Cora Murphy is participating in Incognito for the second year running, with two artworks.

She produces her contemporary landscapes, inspired by walking the land in various parts of Ireland, at her newly renovated home, studio and showroom in Douglas Street, which recently featured on RTÉ’s Great House Revival TV show.

Singing the praises of Incognito, Cora says it helps demystify art and makes it more accessible to everyone.

“It’s a really great idea,” she says, adding there is a lot of nonsense spoken around art. Some people are intimidated by galleries. But Cora says that when it comes to purchasing art, “what appeals to you is the best metric”.

These days, she is creating large paintings of up to five square feet. “It’s a bit of a challenge to rein it in a bit,” she explains,

Cora, originally from Carlow, is often inspired by the residencies she does, particularly at the artists’ centre at Cill Rialaig in County Kerry.

“I work in response to the landscape, walking around it rather than sketching it, getting the sensation of a place,” she says. “As the work has gotten bigger, I tend to do it in my studio.”

After Cora’s mother died in 2023, she went to Cill Rialaig for a while. “I didn’t really expect to paint. But the landscape was an enormous comfort for me at that time. It felt like a direct line. It was like my paintings painted themselves.”

One of the themes in Cora’s work is ‘devotion.’ She explains: “I’m not a religious person at all. But I definitely believe in nature. What I’m doing is kind of honouring nature. The word ‘devotion’ can mean honouring and paying attention.

“There’s a famous quote by Picasso who said ‘inspiration exists, but it has to find you working’. Invariably, a lot of paintings are autobiographical; we kind of paint the way we feel.”

Cora only started painting seriously around the age of 30, after returning to Ireland from living in London, New York and New Zealand. She went to New York on a J1 visa and had a great time, working as a waitress and having the craic.

She and her friends ended up working on Fire Island, “a gorgeous island off Long Island. There’s a residency there. I wouldn’t mind going back there to do one.”

When she turned 30, Cora went to New Zealand. “I had a notion that I’d write a book there. I was working in PR and communications. I was doing some copywriting and thought I could write a book. But I found writing hard-going. I felt what I was doing was really poor and very autobiographical.

“I had this idyllic situation. I was house-sitting out on a beach. I ended up taking an art class.”

It provided something of a ‘Eureka’ moment for the creative Cora.

For her Leaving Cert, she had studied art. “But I had no designs on art college. Three of my close friends were putting together portfolios for art college at that time. My degree is in new technology which I studied at the University of London. Art became a way for me to express myself.”

Not completely letting go of writing, Cora produced a book on the theme of home. “It’s more of a picture book with four essays in it. I’m hoping to do another book project next year.”

Having originally given herself a year to see if living in Cork was feasible, Cora is well settled in the city, having moved here 18 years ago. She says it’s an easy place to live in.

When she was renovating the former shop and living quarters, the locals couldn’t have been more helpful, she says. She has a studio manager, Celeste Burdon.

The renovation job which was shown on TV last month was tough going at times but very rewarding.

Cora says she would do it again, but that you need to be physically and mentally robust for such an undertaking.

She is now able to make a living from her art.

“I used to teach art a lot,” says Cora. “Now, I only do a bit of online teaching.

“When I make a collection, I release the work exclusively and directly to my mailing list. It cuts out dealing with galleries. I had been giving them 50% and was just not able to make a living.”

This year’s Incognito art sale promises to be a blockbuster year for the mystery art sale, with more than 3,500 postcard artworks by over 1,000 artists on sale.

Half of the collection will be available to buy in the Incognito Gallery at Charlemont Square in Dublin.

Potential buyers can preview the art there on April 9 and 10, with the sale taking place on April 11 and 12.

The other half of the collection will be available on the web, with the online sale taking place on April 16 from 8am.

All of the artists behind the Incognito artworks 2025 will be revealed the following day.

For more information, see www.incognito.ie. For updates, follow on @facebook.com/2025incognito or @instagram.com/jackandjillcf.