Russian oppostion activists take part in a rally and march to Bolotnaya Square on February 4, 2012 in Moscow, Russia. Demonstrators braved temperatures as low as -20 degrees celsius as they took to the streets exactly one month before the presidential elections in protest against Vladimir Putin's efforts to return to the Kremlin for an unprecedented third term as President. (Photo by: Ilya Varlamov; Source: LiveJournal)

International artist Yvette Mattern shows her stunning laser rainbow projection, Global Rainbow, on March 1, 2012 in Whitley Bay, England. The light installation celebrates the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad in the north-east of England. The Global Rainbow has previously lit up the skies of Germany, France and the United States. The projection will shine along the North Tyneside coastline for 4 days, before moving to other locations in the UK. (Photo by Bethany Clarke/Getty Images)

A woman participates in an insect-eating competition at a scenic spot in Lijiang, Yunnan province, China June 25, 2017. Insects have been a part of Yunnan cuisine for centuries, long before their potential as sustainable sources of protein caught the eye of the Western world. Bee larvae, grasshoppers and cicadas are just some items found on menus in the region. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Desmond Boylan, a photographer who covered war and conflict across the world before dedicating his life to documenting the daily joys and tribulations of life in Cuba for Reuters and The Associated Press, died suddenly while on assignment on Saturday, December 29, 2018 afternoon in Havana. Here: Cuban President takes a glass during a ceremony in the Oporto Bourse where he and other Ibero-American leaders were made members of the Port Wine Brotherhood in Portugal, October 1998. (Photo by Desmond Boylan/Reuters)

Why would you want to buy a Christmas tree if you have a luscious full beard? Or maybe you have a friend that is willing to volunteer? Just glue some ornaments onto his facial forest and make him stand in the corner. Just don’t forget to feed him! You don’t want your Christmas tree to go bad before the holidays are over! Stephanie Jarstad had created something similar in her project, The Twelve Bears of Christmas, in order to honor the Decembeard (much like Movember), in order to bring awareness to Men’s health problems. (Photo by Stephanie Jarstad)

People line up to buy toilet paper and baby diapers at a supermarket in downtown Caracas January 19, 2015. There's a booming new profession in Venezuela: standing in line. The job usually involves starting before dawn, enduring long hours under the Caribbean sun, dodging or bribing police, and then selling a coveted spot at the front of huge shopping lines. As Venezuela's ailing economy spawns unprecedented shortages of basic goods, panic-buying and a rush to snap up subsidized food, demand is high and the pay is reasonable. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

Paramedics carry an injured woman out from a subway station after a rush-hour subway train derailment, to be transported by a medical helicopter in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, July 15, 2014. A rush-hour subway train derailed in Moscow Tuesday, killing 20 people and injuring at least 150, emergency officials said. Several cars left the track in the tunnel after a power surge triggered an alarm, which caused the train to stop abruptly. (Photo by Ivan Sekretarev/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.