Beccles artist meets Premier League football legends Gabriel Martinelli and Emi Martinez after they commission his art for their homes

A Suffolk artist who combined his lifelong passions of sport and painting has met two Premier League footballers after they commissioned artwork from him.

Archie Wallis, 22 of Beccles, was invited to the homes of Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli and Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez to deliver the portraits personally.

"It feels insane to know that these people want my art in their homes," Archie told Suffolk News.

"When I first saw the message come through on Instagram and realised they wanted my art it was such a good feeling.

"I got invited to their homes and gave them their paintings in person. I saw where they were going to be hung up and it was a really cool experience."

Archie's artwork, which he shares on his Instagram account @Wallisonthewall, first caught the attention of the professional footballing world when Martinelli noticed an original Archie had created of him and requested his own painting to commemorate his recent gold medal win with Brazil in the Olympics.

Shortly after, Emi Martinez' wife Mandinha sent Archie a message asking for two paintings of the Aston Villa player to celebrate his Copa America championship win with his national team, Argentina. One of the paintings was a snapshot of him celebrating with footballing legend Lionel Messi after their success.

Archie began selling his artwork in the form of pet portraits around three years ago but turned his hand to portraits of people during Covid lockdown. He started with a painting of Captain Tom Moore to help raise money for the NHS.

He said: "Art has always been a passion of mine since I was young. I would be at football tournaments and drawing or painting between matches.

"My other passion is sport, I love football and I absolutely love watching it so I combined the two.

The 22-year-old met both footballers in their homes to see his artwork take pride of place on the wall, an experience he said he will never forget.

Of the artwork he created for Emi Martinez, he said: "I watched the tournament and the build up to it and you see him saving penalties and to create one of those moments that I have seen on social media for the man himself was just amazing."

Archie is now looking to expand his portfolio with more portrait style art and originals. He is also keen to start painting other sports he enjoys including boxing and rugby.

"Its always a nice feeling when someone believes in you and your work," Archie said.

"I am hoping this is just the start. I don't want to stop there. I want to keep it moving and growing."