LA Coroners leave the Beverly Hilton Hotel possibly carrying the body of the singer Whitney Houston in the early hours of February 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, CA. Singer and film star Whitney Houston aged 48 has died in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. (Photo/Toby Canham/Getty Images)

Spur Lacasse of Cochrane, Alberta rides the horse Rebel Warrior in the novice bareback event during the Calgary Stampede rodeo in Calgary, Alberta, in this July 12, 2014 file photo. (Photo by Todd Korol/Reuters)

A visitor poses for a picture during Sao Paulo Fashion Week in Sao Paulo, Brazil, March 16, 2017. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)

A woman shouts slogans as she marches to Congress to commemorate International Women's Day in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Monday, March 9, 2020. (Photo by Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo)

Women's Freestyle 50kg wrestling gold medalist Sarah Hildebrandt of Team United States carries Men's Greco-Roman 77kg wrestling gold medalist Nao Kusaka of Team Japan on stage on day thirteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Champions Park on August 08, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)

Vitoria Bueno, a 16-year-old dancer whose genetic condition left her without arms, poses for a picture in her neighborhood in Santa Rita do Sapucai, Brazil, February 7, 2021. (Photo by Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)

A team from Woody's Ice Cream shop wrangle a large inflatable dinosaur down the street during the Independence Day Parade in Fairfax, Virginia July 4, 2015. Americans marched in star-spangled parades, ran relay races, gathered for fireworks shows and crowned a new world hot dog eating champion as they celebrated Independence Day in traditional style on Saturday. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

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.