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.

The civilised world lies on its knees, a sickness wracking its body. The affliction causes a necrotising of tissues so perfectly uniform in distribution that victims take on the appearance of corpses long before death occurs due to organ failure or secondary infections. ...

Members of the ice swimming club “Berliner Seehunde” (Berlin Seals) take a dip in the Orankesee lake as part of their traditional Christmas swimming session in Berlin, Germany, December 25, 2015. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)

West Berliners crowd in front of the Berlin Wall as they watch East German border guards demolish a section of the wall on November 11, 1989. (Photo by Gerard Malie/AFP Photo)

The giant mural titled “Under the Hand” by Maclaim Crew is visible on a building facade in Kreuzberg district on June 26, 2014 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin, with its long tradition of counter-culture, has become a mecca for street art of all dimensions and messages. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

“The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the “death strip”) that contained anti-vehicle trenches, “fakir beds” and other defenses. The Soviet-dominated Eastern Bloc officially claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the “will of the people” in building a socialist state in East Germany. However, in practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period”. – Wikipedia

Photo: West Berlin policemen and East German Volkspolizei face each other across the border in Berlin, circa 1955. (Photo by Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Dancers take part in the Karneval der Kulturen (Carnival of Cultures) street parade of ethnic minorities, in Berlin, Germany, May 24, 2015. A few dozen dancers, musicians and performers from dozens of communities took part in the urban festival on Sunday that aspires to reflect the multi-ethnic diversity of the German capital. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)