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.

Participants of the “Still Standing for Culture” action of the cultural sector rally in Les Marolles neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium, 13 March 2021. Workers of the cultural sector along with second-hand dealers of the Jeu de Balle place gathered in Les Marolles to denounce the lack of financial support and call for solutions to the impact of the coronavirus crisis on culture professionals and the sector as a whole one year after the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns started. (Photo by Stephanie Lecocq/EPA/EFE)

The sun rises beside St Mary's Lighthouse in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, as the unseasonably cool weather continues on Thursday, April 28, 2016. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)

Mary Earps of England makes a save during an England Training Session at St George's Park on April 02, 2024 in Burton upon Trent, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/The FA via Getty Images)

A worker roasts a row of pigs on bamboo poles at a roasting pit, in Manila, Philippines, December 21, 2020. (Photo by Lisa Marie David/Reuters)

A view through mist shows the Kirk of Saint Mary Magdalene in Primorsk, Leningrad Region, Russia on March 24, 2019. (Photo by Anton Vaganov/Reuters)

A model is styled before the Jasper Conran Spring/Summer 2018 runway show at London Fashion Week in London, Saturday, September 16, 2017. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP Photo)

Ling Pham attends the L'Oreal Paris Blue Obsession Party at the annual 69th Cannes Film Festival at Hotel Martinez on May 18, 2016 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)