A Lord Krishna devotee is made up before the start of the Festival of Chariots, Ratha-yatra, held by the community of the Krishna Consciousness to honour Jagannatha, the Lord of the Universe, in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, June 29, 2019. (Photo by Szilard Koszticsak/MTI via AP Photo)

The band “Baby In Vain” and the dancegroup Corpus perform at the Gloria Stage at Roskilde Festival on July 3, 2019. (Photo by Helle Arensbak/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP Photo)

Players in action during the Swamp Soccer Championships 2019 in Hyrynsalmi, Finland, 19 July 2019. The World Championship in swamp football is played annually on Vuorisuo bog in Hyrynsalmi. (Photo by Tomi Hanninen/EPA/EFE)

Costumed participants are reflected in a woman's sunglasses during the Summer Carnival Street Parade, which travels through the streets of the center of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 27 July 2019. Twenty floats participated in the parade with dance acts and lots of music. (Photo by Marco De Swart/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Frances Fowler leads the Bowie VFD Marching Thoroughbreds in the Bowie 4th of July Parade in Bowie, Md., on July 4, 1976. (Photo by James M. Thresher/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Meghan Puhr participates in a virtual realty presentation during an Intel news conference before CES International, Wednesday, January 4, 2017, in Las Vegas. (Photo by John Locher/AP Photo)

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.