“Artist Paula Swisher has come up with a quirky way of lessening the stress of household bills - by doodling highly intricate birds on each one. Swisher, 37, has drawn hundreds of birds in her lifetime and puts her love of ornithology down to the nature walks she went on as a youngster. Looking for work during the recession, she began sketching birds on the inside of books, seeing the practice as a creative way to mutate the pages into something fresh. But now she's made the transition from books to bills – while admittedly making a playful commentary on the predatory banking businesses”. – Caters News. (Photo by Paula Swisher/Caters News)

A nesting bird peeks out of the budding Japanese Yoshino cherry tree along the Tidal Basin in Washington, Sunday, April 7, 2013. Despite repeated predictions peak blossom time for the historic cherry trees is not yet here, but almost, almost. (Photo by Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)

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.

Invasion (laser girls) 2017. “I’m always thinking about my art practice, so any experience I have may spike a visual when I have an idea in mind. An example is that, when I was thinking about the Invasion series, I was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s movie The Birds (1963). I love Hitchcock’s other movies and have been contemplating a series based on Rear Window (1954). I also find inspiration outside the cinema in music clips and magazines”. (Photo by Michael Cook/Perimeter Books)

There’s an innate relationship between children and the animal kingdom. Our children sing songs about animals, the have toy animals, they have books about animals and they dream about animals. Capturing this unique connection is Indonesian artist Elicia Edijanto, who depicts small, vulnerable children alongside creatures of the wild like elephants, wolves and bears. Created in stark black and white imagery, and using only watercolors, Edijanto creates dreamlike-scenes that are both tranquil and contemplative.

A general view of atmosphere during 2016 New York Comic Con – Day 1 on October 6, 2016 in New York City. The annual event offers pop culture fans exhibitors and displays of popular video games, movies and comic books and many people attending dress as their favorite character. (Photo by Daniel Zuchnik/Getty Images)

Thoughts. They fly through the broad expenses of our mind, floating gracefully in midair, going into the clouds, and then reemerging once again. Some are quick and furtive, others are grand and majestic. We reflect upon them as they enter our minds, and once they leave, they are usually gone for good. However, some thoughts are different. These thoughts resemble a flock of angry birds or a swarm of hungry moths that invade your mind, slowly eating away at your sanity, strength, and desire to live. Such thoughts often plague that minds of people with Obsessive Compulsive disorder. They completely occupy their time; constantly there; ever-present. With his book sculpture, Thomas Wightman was able to accurately convey the way these thoughts consume the mind, slowly building a nest within it, resisting all attempts to drive them away.

In this January 8, 2015 photo, a monk Kenmyo Muta bows at the condominium construction site and the gate of Sengakuji temple in Tokyo. The “47 ronin” samurai who inspired the long-loved saga of loyalty and honor eulogized in films, books and plays are fighting a new kind of battle in urban Japan. An apartment complex is going up next to the curved tile-roofed Sengakuji temple where the three-century-old graves of the ronin, or masterless samurai, lie. The banner reads: “We only hope to protect landscape of Sengakuji temple”. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)