American sculptor Michael Alfano has been sculpting for over fifteen years. A native of New York, he now lives and works in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. His major influences are Salvador Dali, Jo Davidson, and Jean-Antoine Houdon, as well as Buddhist, Taoist, Sufi and other eastern philosophy and literature. He first studied at the Art Students League of New York, with an emphasis on life-size sculpture from the model. His formal education continued at Boston University and was augmented by internships with several prominent sculptors.

Jenny Parks is a scientific illustrator that also happens to be a shameless nerd, with a penchant for drawing animals, dinosaurs, imaginary creatures… and occasionally, people as cats. Somehow, she found herself with a bit of internet fame with the illustration ‘Doctor Mew’, and has been baffled ever since. With a BFA in illustration from the California College of the Arts, and a graduate degree in Science Illustration from UC Santa Cruz, she now resides in San Francisco as a freelance illustrator, fulfilling her destiny to make a living drawing cute, fuzzy things.

Award winning Italian Bodypainter Johannes Stötter, paints his models to blend in to their backgrounds. The artist and musician based in Italy has created some of the most unique and life-like pieces of art we've ever seen. And yes, while some works like the ready-to-eat human melon heads creep us out, it's fair to say Stötter has owned his craft. Photo: “Melon”. (Photo by Johannes Stötter)

Japan is a country full of art. Much of this is housed in museums and galleries, but others are right under our feet. We speak, of Japan’s peculiar obsession with manhole covers. Almost anywhere in the country you can find manhole covers with spectacular grounds, each more beautiful and complex than the previous. In recent years, S. Morita photographer has traveled around Japan and leave us this great gathering on the beautiful and artistic Japanese manhole covers.

Tattooist Jay Freestyle, who is based in Amsterdam, creates what only can be described as works of art that last forever on his clients' skin. His style is freehand – without any sketch or stencil and he inks the incredible drawings straight onto body parts. They might look expertly planned, but the swashes of colour, detailed line work and geometric shapes are all the result of some clever improvisation. Photo: An amazing example of his mixed style. (Photo by Jay Freestyle/360 Media Solutions)

Papier-mache pandas, created by French artist Paulo Grangeon, are covered with conical hats as they are displayed under the rain at the financial Central district in Hong Kong June 21, 2014. The installation arrived in the city on Monday, launching the month-long “1600 Pandas World Tour in Hong Kong: Creativity meets Conservation” organized by a local art organiser, according to the official press release. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

Jose Sabas Gomez pastes eyelashes to a statue of El Jesus Nazareno in his workshop in Apastepeque, El Salvador March 9, 2016. Sabas is one of a small number of artists still working on traditional religious art in El Salvador. According to him, there used to be more workshops engaged in the work of restoring statues of saints, but only four remain today as the labor-intensive craft is no longer a popular choice of profession. (Photo by Jose Cabezas/Reuters)

Ron Mueck's “Big Baby” sculpture appears to look round at Jenny Saville's painting “Interfacing” at the Masterpieces Exhibition at Christie's on June 13, 2011 in London, England. The painting and sculpture feature in the exhibition, open to the public from 13th–15th June 2011, which showcases some of the Ј250 million worth of art for sale over the next four weeks. Artists including Michelangelo, Gainsborough, Goya, Stubbs, Monet, Picasso and Renoir are represented. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)