Performers wearing traditional outfits demonstrate the Coopers' Dance on Marienplatz square on January 7, 2012 in Munich, Germany. The Coopers' Dance, known in German as the Schaefflertanz, is performed only every seven years and dates back to 1702. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

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.

Participants of an unauthorized opposition rally gather in Tverskaya street in central Moscow on June 12, 2017. Authorities detained Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny and hundreds of his supporters on Monday, as they mounted demonstrations across the nation against government corruption. Over 200 were detained in Moscow and Saint Petersburg an hour into the protest, according to an NGO that tracks arrests, with Navalny himself picked up by police in his building as he was headed to the event. (Photo by Vasily Maximov/AFP Photo)

A demonstrator shows her arm with the name “Marielle” written on it, as she performs during a protest against the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, March 20, 2018. Franco's murder came just a month after the government put the military in charge of security in Rio, which is experiencing a sharp spike in violence less than two years after hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics. (Photo by Leo Correa/AP Photo)

Sakakibara Kikai's engineer Go Sakakibara poses with the bipedal robot Mononofu during its demonstration at its factory in Shinto Village, Gunma Prefecture, Japan on April 12, 2018. Developed at Sakakibara Kikai, a maker of farming machinery, LW-Mononofu is a 28-feet tall, two-legged robot weighing in at more than 7 tonnes. It contains a cockpit with monitors and levers for the pilot to control the robot's arms and legs. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

This photo taken on April 7, 2018 shows Rohingya refugee attending a demonstration of elephant resistance arranged by the UNHCR and IUCN at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia, Bangladesh. The purpose of the training day is sobering – a dozen Rohingya have been killed by wild elephants whose habitat has been consumed by Kutupalong refugee camp. (Photo by Munir Uz Zaman/AFP Photo)

French riot police officers sprays pepper gas at a demonstrator during a protest against Labor Law as the Socialist government decided to force the bill through Parliament without a vote, in Paris, Thursday, May 12, 2016. France's government is facing a major test as lawmakers hold a no-confidence vote, prompted by a deeply divisive labor law allowing longer workdays and easier layoffs. (Photo by Christophe Ena/AP Photo)

Kenyan riot police officers raise batons over a man during a demonstration of Kenya's opposition supporters in Nairobi, on May 16, 2016. Opposition protestors led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga gathered outside the Indepedent Electoral and Boundaries Comission building to demand the dismissal of IEBC commissioners, after alleged bias towards the ruling Jubillee Alliance Party. (Photo by Carl De Souza/AFP Photo)