Animal rights groups and PETA stop in front of a Prada store on Rodeo Drive during an anti-fur demonstration urging Black Friday shoppers to stop buying fur-related products on November 25, 2011 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

A model presents a creation by LARHHA during the Code'41 Andalusian Fashion Week at the Amphitheatre of Italica in Seville on March 21, 2021. (Photo by Cristina Quicler/AFP Photo)

Egyptians members of the “Tanoura Dance Troupe” perform during the holy month of Ramadan, at the Ghouri complex, in Islamic Cairo, Egypt, 13 April 2022. (Photo by Khaled Elfiqi/EPA/EFE)

A woman carries her baby as she places fishes for sale at a market in Abobo neighborhood, in the suburbs of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Sunday, November 1, 2020. (Photo by Leo Correa/AP Photo)

New York Police officers arrest a drag queen during a weekly “We Choose Freedom” march through the West Village, Thursday, November 5, 2020, in New York. (Photo by Seth Wenig/AP Photo)

Miss California Jessa Carmack during swimsuit competition at Miss America 2017 pageant, Sunday, September 11, 2016, in Atlantic City, N.J. (Photo by Noah K. Murray/AP Photo)

A young protester takes part in a protest near Tahrir Square to call for the fall of Islamist President on January 24, 2012 in Cairo. (Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP Photo via The Atlantic)

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.