Young people fight for fun with their pillows, during the International Pillow Fight Day at the Place des Grottes, in Geneva, Switzerland, Saturday, April 4, 2015. The annual International Pillow Fight Day takes place in hundreds of cities around the world. (Photo by Salvatore Di Nolfi/AP Photo/Keystone)

A woman takes part in a four-minute flash mob pillow fight at the Old Town Square in Prague, Czech Republic, December 22, 2016. (Photo by David W. Cerny/Reuters)

Ukrainian teenagers hit each other with pillows during a large pillow fight in downtown Kiev, Ukraine, 24 April 2016. About hundred people took part in the event “Pillow battle 2016” in Kiev. (Photo by Roman Pilipey/EPA)

People participate in a pillow fight to mark International Pillow Fight Day in the Heroes' Square, in central Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, April 2, 2016. The Pillow Fight Day attracts tens of thousands people in more than 100 cities all over the World each year. ((Photo by Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP Photo)

A mass pillow fight in Trafalgar Square in central London on April 5, 2014 on International Pillow Fight Day. (Photo by Jane Scanlan)

Fighters battle in Manhattan's Union Square during a massive pillow fight on April 2, 2011 in New York City. Over 130 cities worldwide are participating in the fourth annual International Pillow Fight Day. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

A pigeon, known as Siyah Kinifirli, with an approximate market value of 1000 Turkish Lira ($263), bred by 23-year-old Ismail Ozbek, is pictured in Sanliurfa, Turkey, December 23, 2016. As night-time approaches in Sanliurfa, southeastern Turkey, most of the alleyways of the city's old bazaar are emptying out of buyers and vendors, except for one. (Photo by Umit Bektas/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.