Realistic impressionist whose art, prints and posters express his love of nature and a man gifted with a rare talent. Having studied with some of the great Italian masters of fine art, he has developed a brilliant and commanding style. Born in Castelluccio, Italy, in 1954, Egidio Antonaccio graduated from the Institute of Fine Art in Castrovillari, Italy, in 1973. Then in 1978, he graduated with honors from the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy.

The artist Samantha French reveals the magnificent series of paintings: portraits of men and women under water. Very realistic creations expressing the world under water. Every detail is present, sunlight on water, air bubbles in the water, the color tone underwater, aquatic atmosphere. Absolutely amazing to discover in the rest of the article works.

California-based glass artist Loren Stump specializes in a form of glasswork called murrine, where rods of glass are melted together and then sliced to reveal elaborate patterns and forms. While the murrina process appeared in the Mideast some 4,000 years ago, Stump has perfected his own technique over the past 35 years to the point where he can now layer entire portraits and paintings in glass before slicing them to see the final results. His most complex piece to date is a detailed interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks, which involved hundreds of glass components that were melted into a final piece.

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.

A tiger is painted on the backs of three models at the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys on January 3, 2012 in Fuzhou, China. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress)

These tiny little sugar gliders are lucky to be alive after surviving a cat attack that killed their mother. Somehow the youngsters, who were just a few days old at the time, and the size of jellybeans, survived and were rushed to the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital in Queensland, Australia. (Photo by Adam Head/Newspix/REX Features)