Chinese artist Wen Xin and his inkstone carvings

（People's Daily Online）  09:06, November 21, 2012

Wen Xin, a 32-year-old man, is a master of inkstone carving in Shexian of Anhui Province. He started to learn the craftsmanship during his teenage years under the influence of his family.

After years of study as research, Wen Xin developed a series of skills and patterns in carving the inkstone. The themes of his inkstones, various from landscapes, portrait, flowers to creatures. "I always get inspires from the common things in the daily life," he said.

Related: Chinese artist Yu Chunming and his folk house paintings

Inkstone, a kind of traditional Chinese stationery, used to be considered as one of the four treasures in the studies. It is used to grind ink sticks with water into liquid link for writing and painting. After hundred years of development, an inkstone currently is more of an art work than a plain utensil on a desk.