The Stone Forest or Shilin is a notable set of limestone formations located in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China, near Shilin approximately 120 km (75 mi) from the provincial capital Kunming. The tall rocks seem to emanate from the ground in the manner of stalagmites, with many looking like petrified trees thereby creating the illusion of a forest made of stone. Since 2007, two parts of the site, the Naigu Stone Forest (乃古石林) and Suogeyi Village (所各邑村), have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites as part of the South China Karst.

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.

Devotees attend the annual voodoo festival in Ouidah January 10, 2016. The national voodoo holiday in the West African country of Benin had a distinctively political accent this year as practitioners from Africa and the Americas gathered on Sunday to offer prayers and sacrifices for peace. Hundreds of followers of the traditional religion gathered in the Atlantic coast town of Ouidah, once an important port in the slave trade, to pray for calm during the tiny country's presidential election scheduled for February. (Photo by Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)

People enjoy a bath in hot kvass, a traditional fermented beverage made from rye bread, during the sauna marathon near Otepaa, Estonia, February 6, 2016. Participants have to track down and visit the given saunas in the Otepaa area as fast as possible. (Photo by Ints Kalnins/Reuters)

Visitors walk through a tulip display in Chaya Mountain, Suiping County in Zhumadian, Henan Province of China on March 31, 2016. There are more than ten varieties of tulips here. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

Aimee, 19, who has Down syndrome, has make-up applied by her mother before a presentation in Monterrey, Mexico, in this picture taken April 9, 2016. The association “Abrazame con Discapacidad” (“Embrace me with Disabilities”) teaches folk dance to low-income people with Down syndrome and manages presentations at public events where they receive a payment, as part of a therapy that helps improve their motor system, learning and self-esteem, the association said. (Photo by Daniel Becerril/Reuters)

This undated photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows two island foxes in Channel Islands National Park, Calif. Three fox subspecies native to California's Channel Islands were removed from the list of endangered species Thursday, August 11, 2016, in what federal officials have called the fastest recovery of any mammal listed under the Endangered Species Act. (Photo by Chuck Graham/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP Photo)

Participants descend a hill in home- made vehicles during the 29 th Car Festival in Medellin, Antioquia department, Colombia, on November 18, 2018. (Photo by Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP Photo)