Artist Ali Khalifa, center, draws graffiti at his old Kadhimiya district of Baghdad that needed municipal services, Iraq, Wednesday, June 2, 2021. (Photo by Hadi Mizban/AP Photo)

American rapper Megan Thee Stallion accepts the best female hip hop artist award at the BET Awards on Sunday, June 27, 2021, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/AP Photo)

Team GB synchronised swimmers Kate Shortman and Izzy Thorpe took on an underwater fashion shoot in June 2021 before they represent Britain in the artistic swimming competition at the Tokyo Olympics next month. (Photo by Bluebella/Cavendish Press)

Artists from the Beijing Dance Academy perform to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year in Budapest, capital of Hungary, February 6, 2019. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua News Agency/Barcroft Media)

One of the invited tattoo artists, Tom Storm, works on the arm of Kerrie Hibbert at the 2017 Tattoo Collective event at the Old Truman Brewery in London, England on February 17, 2017. (Photo by PA Wire)

A model, painted by the artist Avi Ram from Airbrush Hero, poses for a photo as part of a calendar project, at the Tower of David in Jerusalem's Old City, April 27, 2017. (Photo by Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)

Fifth Harmony accept the most buzzworthy international artist or group award during the iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards (MMVAs) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada June 19, 2016. (Photo by Fred Thornhill/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.