Pick a day, any day, and you'll find him dangling off the side of a building, over 100 feet in the air, paintbrush in hand. He's Brooklyn artist Jason Coatney, and he creates exceptional pieces of art that rival the detail you'll see in any photograph.

It was a chilly autumn morning in New York City-one of the last days that would see brilliant red, orange, and yellow leaves hanging from the trees. On Wooster Street in SoHo, a small gathering of travel agency workers worked their way across the cobblestone road bundled under hats and heavy jackets.

Varia Bortsova's career path has taken a few interesting twists and turns. Born in Moscow just one year before the fall of the Soviet Union, the 26-year-old began her professional career as a touring ballerina with a prestigious Russian dance company-a product of the national ballet training system.