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17th June 2020

OO Ella Deregowska is painting portraits for a cause

Finding herself with plenty of time her hands due to the lockdown, Ella Deregowska (17) decided to put her talent and passion for painting towards a valuable cause. Inspired by various fundraising activities, and spurred on by friends and family asking her for portraits, Ella started to take commissions – with all proceeds going to the NHS.

Ella’s unique fundraising initiative took off; thus far she has raised over £800 for the NHS, painted 37 portraits to date and was featured in the quarterly lifestyle magazine, grav.i.tas. Her favourite piece is of her friend Eddie, which is one of the earliest she painted during lockdown (pictured below).

An avid artist, Ella was an Art Scholar while at Oakham: “I thoroughly enjoyed Art the whole way through my time there (I spent seven days a week in the Art Department), doing textiles GCSE and painting at A-level.”

Since leaving Oakham, Ella has gone on to study Philosophy with Psychology at Warwick University and has just returned from a year studying abroad in Melbourne, Australia.

“I would love to one day make a living out of my art, but I am not sure how to do that just yet,” says Ella. “At the moment, painting is just a really great way for me to spend my time in lockdown.”

To see the rest of Ella’s fabulous artwork, visit her Instagram page @bigyikesart.

Report by Joe Roberts

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