Paintings by Iris Grace, a 5 year old with an extraordinary talent to express herself through painting. She is Autistic and is only just starting to talk but is able to paint in a style far beyond her years. We wanted to share her art to raise awareness of her condition and inspire other families in similar situations to ours.

Melanie Baier from the village Obergurig wearing a traditional Lusatian sorbian folk dress, paints an Easter egg in traditional Sorbian motives at the annual Easter egg market on March 24, 2012 in Schleife, near Hoyerswerda, Germany. Easter egg painting is a strong part of Sorbian tradition and visual elements within the painting are meant to ward off evil. (Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images)

Light is the sole reason why life exists. It provides us with warmth; it allows us to see; it nourishes all the living things on this planet. Many painters, especially the masters of Old Renaissance Period, have recognized the importance of light and its intimate connection with nature and life itself. In their paintings they gave tribute to light, giving the impression that their paintings had a light source hidden within them. Al Hogue, the artist who created the paintings that you see before you, has studied their techniques for many years. As time went by, light permeated not only his paintings by also his life, becoming his sole philosophy.

Zdzisław Beksiński, 24 February 1929 – 21 February 2005) was a renowned Polish painter, photographer, and sculptor. Beksiński executed his paintings and drawings either in what he called a 'Baroque' or a 'Gothic' manner. The first style is dominated by representation, with the best-known examples coming from his fantastic realism period when he painted disturbing images of a surrealistic, nightmarish environment. The second style is more abstract, being dominated by form, and is typified by Beksiński's later paintings.

Beksiński was murdered in 2005.

Street art started out as unintelligible words written on concrete walls with spray paint by gang members or silly kids. Now, however, it evolved into a unique form of art that might stun and inspire awe in the onlookers. For example, the artist that goes by the name 1010 specializes in creating optical illusions. His creations look like portals into other dimensions, without any hint that it might simply be a flat concrete wall painted over with multicolored paints. These pieces of art are so good that it is hard not to reach out into these ‘holes’ to find out whether or not they are real. (Photo by 1010)

A bodypainter uses UV paint to create electrifying masterpieces of stunning landscapes on models. John Poppletons vibrant Bodyscapes feature bright savannahs, lightning storms and vivid galaxies leaping from the bodies of his subjects. The artist, who lives in Wellsville in Utah, USA, uses a black light on his paintings to make them look as close to real life as possible. He predominantly uses female models and often paints across their backs to give him the largest surface area to work with. Here: “Bamboo Mist”. (Photo by John Poppleton/Caters News)

A sheep, painted in the colours of World Cup participating country England looks on on September 11, 2011 in Dunedin, New Zealand. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)