A skill like woodworking takes years and thousands of hours to become more than just a proficient at, but this man invested that time to be a certifiable master. His name is Randall Rosenthal and he has talent that can result in mind-bending illusions. The project in the gallery below all started with three pieces of white pine he glued together. What he turned that block of wood into is so cool.

The National Geographic Photo Ark is a travelling exhibition of photographer Joel Sartore’s quest to create a photo archive of biodiversity around the world. So far, Sartore has captured studio portraits of more than 6,000 species – a number that he hopes to double. On 1 July, the ark will open at Melbourne zoo – the first time it has been exhibited in the southern hemisphere. More than 50 portraits will be on display, including many of Australian endangered animals being protected by programs at the zoo itself. These captions have been edited from text supplied by Melbourne zoo. Here: Barking owl. (Photo by Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark/The Guardian)

This deviantART artist Wood-Splitter-Lee creates her own animal sculptures without the use of any dead carcasses. The basis of each animal's shape is made out of materials such as wood, clay and chicken wire, and is then wrapped up in a soft padding. On top of that, she adds imitation fur that she hand dyes and as many details and decorative elements as she sees fit. The result are truly one-of-a-kind fantasy creatures.

Farmer Ash Whitney stands in the middle of a dried-up dam in a drought-effected paddock on his property located west of the town of Gunnedah in New South Wales, Australia, June 3, 2018. “I have been here all my life, and this drought is feeling like it will be around a while”, said Whitney. (Photo by David Gray/Reuters)

As part of FLAIR Melbourne – a Flinders Lane art festival – Melbourne’s Lisa Minogue presents stylised photographic portraits of Australian women of colour, their faces painted vibrantly to accentuate their individuality and encourage the viewer to study each face more closely. Minogue asked each woman the same question: “What do the words “coloured girl” mean to you?”. (Photo by Lisa Minogue/The Guardian)

There is an endless bounty of eye-catching gemstones throughout the world and this spectacular boulder opal is one unique beauty that looks like a shimmering crystal encased in a tree fossil. Its opalescent sheen seeps through the cracks of the seemingly wooden rings in lustrous hues of emerald green and aqua blue. Like something out of a fairy tale, the triangular piece radiates through an organic pattern mimicking the growth rings of tree.

From the rocks of Arnhem Land to the backyards of the Sydney suburbs, from stretching by the pool to waiting for evening prayer, snapshots for the 2015 Australian Life prize demonstrated a nation in colour and motion. Here: Children Cooling Off at Dhiari Homeland. Local children get wet and cool in Arnhem Land. (Photo by Matthew Abbott/Australian Life Prize 2015)

“Australian Aborigines are those people regarded as indigenous to the Australian continent. In the High Court of Australia, Australian Aborigines have been specifically identified as a group of people who share, in common, biological ancestry back to the original occupants of the continent”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Aboriginal women washing their hair with sand at Arnhem land in the Northern Territory of Australia. 1st January 1950. (Photo by Three Lions)