Every year in Fairbanks, Alaska, the World Ice Art Championships takes place, and it is no cute little side hobby. Praised as one of the world’s largest ice sculpting competitions and exhibitions, the World Ice Art Championships has grown into a month-long event featuring more than 70 teams from around the world. The works are stunning and often massive in both size and visual appeal.

I would like to tell you why many artists, who like me, have painted portraits and landscapes in oils on canvas, worked with acrylics, watercolors, and pen and ink drawings, have turned to the art of gourd carving.

American artist Kim Keever did new abstract creations for his exhibition “Across the Volumes” at the Waterhouse & Dodd in April 2014. From a mixture of paint and water, kinds of colorful volutes appear in the air, under the shapes of clouds, mushrooms or jellyfishes. His work is to discover in the next part of the article.

Edouard Martinet was born in Le Mans, France in 1963 he studied art at ESAG, Paris and graduated in 1988. From 1988 to 1992 he lived and worked in Paris as a graphic designer, and in 1990 started sculpting and staging exhibitions. From 1992 to 1995 he lived in Charente before moving to his current location in Rennes where he teaches art at L'Institut des Arts Appliques.

A model showcases lingerie during a lingerie show on International Women's Day at a shopping mall on March 8, 2011 in Qingdao, Shandong Province of China. The official theme of International Women's Day 2011 is “Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women”. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images). QINGDAO, CHINA – MARCH 08 2011