LSU track and field athlete Hugh Carlson has a hobby that many who first meet him may not be aware of.
That hidden hobby is wood carving, something Carlson fell in love with while taking a class in high school.
Now, he uses that love when he removes the spikes and steps away from the track as a way to relieve stress and let time pass after practice and in between classes.
“There are a lot of areas in my life right now that are super competitive and super busy,” Carlson said. “This is kind of the one area where I get to take control.”
Sometimes he’ll make his wood carvings for himself, but most of the time they are for other people. Carlson finds joy in making pieces for his friends, family and loved ones. He’ll give unique pieces to loved ones as gifts depending on the occasion, such as birthdays, anniversaries and holidays.
“I’ve never been a good gift giver, but this is a good touch of creativity to it,” he said.
Carlson later added on the gift-giving aspect of his hobby a bit more, when asked about some of his favorite creations.
“Some of them have just been really good, and some of them it’s been more the reaction of the person that I’ve given them to,” Carlson said. “If we’re talking just purely gift giving, I made a jewelry box for my girlfriend for Christmas, and that was probably my most memorable.”
Something that won’t come as a surprise to many is one of Carlson’s latest projects, a tiger head.
He’s carved three separate tiger carving projects; they serve as gifts and personal tests for him. Carlson likes to use each tiger project as a way to test how he’s improved as a carver.
“As soon as I started doing animal projects, I knew that I was going to have to do a tiger project,” he said. “I made one for my friend in August. That was my first animal project, first 3D carving, and it was just a lot more work than I expected.”
If you are interested in viewing some of Carlson’s wooden carvings, you can do so by looking up @carvedbycarlson on Instagram.
There you will see some of his amazing creations. These range from an alligator table, t-rex head and more.
