CARL Peterson was a talented footballer.

Originally from Western Australia, he was born in Meekatharra, before moving to Kununurra.

He moved to Perth and was drafted from Claremont by Richmond at No.60 in the 2006 NAB AFL Draft.

Although he didn’t play an AFL match for the Tigers, he got another chance via Hawthorn after playing in St Mary’s 2007/08 premiership side in the Northern Territory.

He played 17 games for Hawthorn in 2010 and impressed in several games, before his career finished.

Now settled in Victoria, Peterson is a ‘chippy’ by trade and has made an impressive career for himself.

But it is his hobby – painting – that is truly spectacular.

Peterson is behind Melbourne’s painted boots for Indigenous Round. With the help of his partner Nikita Rotumah, they have produced stunning colours, patterns and stories, for the Melbourne players this round. And on Saturday afternoon against Port Adelaide at TIO Stadium the boots will come to life.

For Peterson, painting had always been a passion and a release.

And although this project took two and a half weeks – he worked on them most nights after work from 8pm until 2am – he was proud of his result.

“This was on a short timeframe, so I’m really happy what has come out here. It was enjoyable at the same time, because it’s the first time an AFL club has done this, so it was a good opportunity for me,” he told melbournefc.com.au.  

“Seeing them close up and getting them done – they all look the same to me. When I sit back and watch the players’ reaction and see them, it really just reinforces what a good job me and my partner did.

“We’re just glad that the players are happy with them and we just hope that the paint doesn’t peel off.”

Peterson said he used acrylic paint on the shoes, with a coat of lacquer to finish it off.

“It was a bit of a challenge, because it’s different from a canvas, which I’m used to painting on,” Peterson said.

“It was awesome though – I loved doing it.”

Having used several designs, Peterson said it was hard to pick a favourite, but he liked the boots he painted for half-back Josh Wagner.

“The last boots I painted were for Wags and it was a bit of a rushed thing, and I went away from what I was doing, which was routine,” he said.

“I changed it up a little bit, so the last one I did turned out to be one of my favourites.”