Collins' family in frame for Bay artist's tribute

Havelock North artist Aaron Jenkins, with his drawing of late All Black Jerry Collins which sold for $3050 on Trade Me. Photo / Paul Taylor

A detailed portrait of the late Jerry Collins will end up with his family if a winning Trade Me bidder gets his way.

Havelock North artist Aaron Jenkins was on Facebook when he read the former All Black, 34, and his partner Alana Madill were killed after their car collided with a bus on a French motorway.

As a father of two girls his first thoughts were for the couple's 4-month old daughter Ayla, who was left fighting for her life.

So he picked up a pencil, and spent 14 hours creating a photo-perfect image of Collins - which was loaded to Trade Me with the explanation that all proceeds would go to an account set up in Ayla's name.

After seven days, publicity from various newspapers, Maori TV, Good Morning, the Paul Henry Show and a serious groundswell on Facebook, the final bid came in at $3050.

"It's more than I ever thought we would get - I put it on with a $250 reserve. I never thought of it going above that," Mr Jenkins says.

The winning bidder wished to remain anonymous, only revealing that he lived in Auckland - and his plans to try and unite Mr Collins' loved ones with the artwork.

"He contacted us [on Monday] and hopes to donate my picture back to the family."

Minutes before the auction ended page views clicked over to 50,000 - but there was no final frenzied bidding war.

"The winning bid had been there for a day and a half."

While Mr Jenkins never intended to create so much talk about his work, it has had a positive spin off for his art.

"There's been a whole lot of awesome comments, people contacting me, I'm going to look at a gallery show - it's totally blown me away."

The artist who poured his heart and soul into the pencil sketch posted the funds to a Givealittle page, so the bidder's identity would remain a secret, along with with a moving message.

"RIP Jerry and Alana. This is the money we raised from my drawing ... we have you all in our thoughts," it read.