Los Angeles native Mike Stilkey has always been attracted to painting and drawing not only on vintage paper, record covers and book pages, but on the books themselves. Using a mix of ink, colored pencil, paint and lacquer, Stilkey depicts a melancholic and at times a whimsical cast of characters inhabiting ambiguous spaces and narratives of fantasy and fairy tales. A lingering sense of loss and longing hints at emotional depth and draws the viewer into their introspective thrall with a mixture of capricious poetry, wit, and mystery. (Photo by Mike Stilkey)

In this July 12, 2007 file photo, a two-day-old piping plover runs along a beach in the Quonochontaug Conservation Area in Westerly, R.I. (Photo by Steven Senne/AP Photo)

In this picture taken on Saturday, January 31, 2015, Zohreh Etezadossaltaneh, center, talks on her mobile phone, held with her foot, during a meeting at her friend's home in Tehran, Iran. Now 52 years old, the retired Iranian teacher who was born without arms has dedicated herself to helping others with similar disabilities live full and satisfying lives. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

Michael Pankratz’s intriguing works focus specifically on the feet of tarantulas – an appendage that many have perhaps never focused on. The extreme close-ups of tarantulas’ “paws” show fine, colourful hairs, and sharp claws. Here: Brachypelma albopilosum, foot detail. (Photo by Michael Pankratz/Caters News Agency)

Icelandic horses play on a stud farm in Wehrheim Frankfurt, Germany, as the sun rises on Thursday, May 21, 2020. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

Venezuelan Hildemaro Ortiz relaxes inside of an abandoned bus in the border city of Pacaraima, Brazil on April 13, 2019. Ten destitute Venezuelan migrants who fled their country's crisis did not get far when they crossed into Brazil: they have been living for three months on an abandoned bus just across the border. (Photo by Pilar Olivares/Reuters)

This photo shows sunset in Eagle, Colo., Sunday, November 3, 2019. Daylight saving time ended, making sunset around 5 p.m. this time of year in Colorado. (Photo by Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily via AP Photo)

The Indiana Pacemates perform during an NBA game between the Indiana Pacers and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on January 14, 2025. (Photo by USA Today)