Stowmarket artist Louise scores high at charity auction

A Stowmarket artist has raised more than £12,000 for a leukaemia charity after auctioning portraits of Wolverhampton Wanderers players.

Louise Cobbold, of Lanford Close, first realised the popularity of her work after she painted a portrait of midfielder Ruben Neves for her husband Chris, who is a big fan of the football team.

"It got a great reaction on Facebook so I thought I could turn it into something," she said.

The former art teacher then painted a further 13 watercolour paintings, each of which were signed by the appropriate player.

Twelve of the paintings were sold at auction on Sunday, May 6 while the other one was donated by Louise as a raffle prize. Together, they fetched a grand total of £12,100.

"I knew from the social media reaction that a lot of people were interested but I didn't think they'd go for the prices they did. We were really pleased," said Louise.

"It's been quite a good season for the Wolves so a lot of fans are on a high. It's a good time to do this sort of thing."

The money will go towards Cure Leukaemia, chosen by Louise after the Wolves' goalkeeper, Carl Ikeme, was diagnosed with the disease last year.

"It seemed the appropriate choice as it is the charity closest to the hearts of the Wolves and their fans," she said.

"We've been in contact with the Wolves and they had a really positive reaction. They were blown away by the paintings and by the amount raised.

"Some of the players wanted their picture but of course, we all agreed to give them to charity."

Louise is also selling prints of the images, with 10 per cent of each sale going to the charity. She also hopes to expand the idea into other teams and sports.

"We're going to see where it takes us but I'd love to paint different sports players. I enjoy doing it," she said.

To buy a print, visit www.sportspersonalities.org/shop/