A large variety of weapons were for sale at the Washington County Fairgrounds Gun Show that drew thousands of people over the weekend, on March 22, 2013. (Photo by Gary Porter)

Many people have seen feathers as decorative items before. Today, ostrich, peacock and bird of paradise feathers can be seen in haute couture and in the costumes of indigenous peoples. They can be colorful and spectacular in their own right, but how much more stunning might they be when used as canvases for artists, eager to demonstrate their talent for the unusual? Alaskan-born and -bred artist Julie Thompson is an astounding exponent of this incredible art form.

A child falls sleep while people take part in the 35th India Day Parade in New York August 16, 2015. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

People watch a competitor riding a homemade vehicle without an engine on a 300-metre-track during the Red Bull Soapbox Race in Amman, Jordan September 4, 2015. (Photo by Muhammad Hamed/Reuters)

People take part in The Color Run in Brussels, Belgium September 6, 2015. The Color Run is a five-kilometre, untimed race, held in cities worldwide, with the aim of promoting healthy living. Participants are doused from head to toe in different colors at each kilometre. (Photo by Yves Herman/Reuters)

A woman hands flowers to a member of the Wisconsin National Guard standing by as people gather for a vigil, following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S., August 28, 2020. (Photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

People pose for photos among a field of cosmos flowers in a car park before high-rise apartment buildings in Goyang, west of Seoul on September 22, 2020. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)

People play with toy guns outside a bar at night, almost a year after the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei province, China on December 11, 2020. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)