With Valentine’s Day peeking around the corner, vendors at the Tahlequah Art and Craft Market showed their love for shoppers at the Cherokee County Community Building on Feb. 10.

Dozens of vendors displayed their one-of-a-kind creations. There were sweets and treats, herbal remedies, gift baskets, jewelry, honey, and music supplied by Eddie Glenn.

One of the vendors was Wise Cat Apothecary, which specializes in herbal lotions, salves, teas, extracts, and bath salts. Owner Tabatha Hibbs, with the help of her husband, Mark Paulissen, launched the business a little over two years ago.

“I started in herbalism personally as a way to manage my fibromyalgia,” Hibbs said. “I do not respond well to many of the pharmaceuticals prescribed for fibro. I was looking for ways to manage my pain and energy levels.”

The idea of selling her items came from a friend.

“I had a friend diagnosed with breast cancer,” Hibbs said. “I created a restorative tea for her. It really helped and she said, ‘You should sell that.’ So, I started selling it. And then, Mark said I should do this full time.”

Many of her remedies came from customers’ requests.

“A friend’s husband has arthritis,” Hibbs said. “I created a special ginger turmeric tea. It’s a good blend that helps with inflammation. What they were buying at the store either doesn’t work or tastes bad from all the additives and stuff in it.”

Hibbs explained how she came up with the name for her business.

“I’m a cat lover. I was in the kitchen one day just piddling around, and my cat, Cattywampus, was sitting on the barstool watching me. And I thought, you know, I need a name. And my cat was looking at me like, ‘Duh.’ and I said, ‘You’re such a wise cat.’ Cattywampus is the CEO. That stands for cat executive officer,” Hibbs said.

The difference between Hibbs’ herbal remedies and those people can buy in big box stores is that her ingredients are organic and contain no synthetics.

“I make everything in-house, by myself,” Hibbs said. “You can find me all summer at the Farmers’ Market, and I also have a website.”

On the other side of the building was Sista K. Kreations. Scores of baskets holding candy, plush toys, and Valentine’s hearts were created by owner Gwen Keys, a long-time Tahlequah resident.

Keys designs and creates baskets for most holidays. She makes gift baskets suitable for significant others, spouses, parents, and children.

“I do Christmas, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day, and birthdays,” Keys said. “I try to sell here in the community building, but if nothing’s going on, I go right down to the corner of Lee Street and sell them there. You can find me on my Facebook page.”

Near the front entrance was a booth specializing in local honey products. M3 Bee Farms is owned by Mike Landry, who began his bee business 12 years ago.

“I actually live in Owasso, but I have bees here,” Landry said. “I run about 100-150 hives a year.”

Honey has been said to help with allergies by slowly raising a person’s tolerance to the affecting pollen.

“Bees bring in the pollen from that area. So local honey will give you a small dose of that pollen,” Landry said.

Besides having a website with all his bee products for sale, Landry travels to many events in the Tahlequah area.

“I do Farmers’ Market, Go Ye Village, and Red Fern Festival,” Landry said.

Landry pulls honey three times each year. The taste of honey differs, based on when it is pulled.

“Early in the year, you will get a light honey from fruit trees,” Landry said. “I pull again in July and you’ll get a lot of wildflowers in it. Then, I pull in the fall. It’s a much darker honey than you get in the spring.”

What started out as recreation for Landry turned into a passion.

“I always loved to hunt and fish,” Landry said. “As I got older, hunting didn’t appeal to me as much. But when I retired, I wanted to be outdoors. I started beekeeping and now it’s a full-time job. It keeps me out of the rocking chair.”

If there was one thing Landry wanted people to know, it’s to “buy local honey.”

The “buying local” theme was echoed by most of the vendors. Buying local helps the local economy and strengthens the community as a whole. Buying from local artisans spreads the love all year long, not just on Valentine’s Day.

With Valentine’s Day peeking around the corner, vendors at the Tahlequah Art and Craft Market showed their love for shoppers at the Cherokee County Community Building on Feb. 10.

Dozens of vendors displayed their one-of-a-kind creations. There were sweets and treats, herbal remedies, gift baskets, jewelry, honey, and music supplied by Eddie Glenn.

One of the vendors was Wise Cat Apothecary, which specializes in herbal lotions, salves, teas, extracts, and bath salts. Tabatha Hibbs, owner, with the help of her husband, Mark Paulissen, began the business a little over two years ago.

“I started in herbalism personally as a way to manage my fibromyalgia,” Hibbs said. “I do not respond well to many of the pharmaceuticals prescribed for fibro. I was looking for ways to manage my pain and energy levels.”

The idea of selling her items came from a friend.

“I had a friend diagnosed with breast cancer,” Hibbs said. “I created a restorative tea for her. It really helped and she said, ‘You should sell that.’ So, I started selling it. And then, Mark said that I should do this full time.”

Many of her remedies came from customer’s requests.

“A friend’s husband has arthritis,” Hibbs said. “I created a special ginger turmeric tea. It’s a good blend that helps with inflammation. What they were buying at the store either doesn’t work or tastes bad from all the additives and stuff in it.”

Hibbs explained how she came up with the name for her business.

“I’m a cat lover. I was in the kitchen one day just piddling around and my cat, Cattywampus, was sitting on the barstool watching me. And, I thought, you know… I need a name. And my cat was looking at me like, ‘Duh.’ And I said, ‘You’re such a wise cat.’ Cattywampus is the CEO. That stands for cat executive officer,” Hibbs said.

The difference between Hibbs’ herbal remedies and those people can buy in big box stores is that her ingredients are organic and contain no synthetics.

“I make everything in-house, by myself,” Hibbs said. “You can find me all summer at the Farmers Market, and I also have a website.”

On the other side of the building was Sista K. Kreations. Scores of baskets holding candy, plush toys, and Valentine’s hearts were created by owner Gwen Keys, a long-time Tahlequah resident.

Keys designs and creates baskets for most holidays. She makes gift baskets suitable for significant others, spouses, parents, and children.

“I do Christmas, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day, and birthdays,” Keys said. “I try to sell here in the community building, but if nothing’s going on, I go right down to the corner of Lee Street and sell them there. You can find me on my Facebook page.”

Near the front entrance was a booth specializing in local honey products. M3 Bee Farms is owned by Mike Landry, who began his bee business 12 years ago.

“I actually live in Owasso, but I have bees here,” Landry said. “I run about 100-150 hives a year.”

Honey has been said to help with allergies by slowly raising a person’s tolerance to the affecting pollen.

“Bees bring in the pollen from that area. So local honey will give you a small dose of that pollen,” Landry said.

Besides having a website with all his bee products for sale, Landry travels to many events in the Tahlequah area.

“I do Farmers Market, Go Ye Village, and Red Fern Festival,” Landry said.

Landry pulls honey three times each year. The taste of honey differs based on when it is pulled.

“Early in the year, you will get a light honey from fruit trees,” Landry said. “I pull again in July and you’ll get a lot of wildflowers in it. Then, I pull in the fall. It’s a much darker honey than you get in the spring.”

What started out as recreation for Landry turned into a passion.

“I always loved to hunt and fish,” Landry said. “As I got older, hunting didn’t appeal to me as much. But when I retired, I wanted to be outdoors. I started beekeeping and now it’s a full-time job. It keeps me out of the rocking chair.”

If there was one thing Landry wanted people to know it’s to “buy local honey.”

The “buying local” theme was echoed by most of the vendors. Buying local helps the local economy and strengthens the community as a whole. Buying from local artisans spreads the love all year long, not just on Valentine’s Day.

The Book of Genesis, which is thought to have been written around the 5th century B.C.E. and influenced by much earlier Mesopotamian myths, contains four chapters that chronicle an earthshaking deluge. The story goes that God destroyed what he saw as a world that had become violent and corrupt, singling out one man, Noah, and instructing him to build an ark. Bringing animals to safety and a new existence, the vessel protected the chosen few from masses of water that eliminated all other living creatures on Earth.

In flowing, otherworldly oil paintings, London-based artist Yulia Iosilzon steers from depictions of stormy skies, bearded men, or monumental vessels. She proposes thinking about the flood narrative as a form of renewal and regeneration rather than a tale of destruction. Art history scholar Dr. Rebecca Birrell says in an essay about this body of work:

In a myth known for its binary thinking, its brutal and unyielding transmission of devastation, hopelessness and shame, Iosilzon imagines an alternative. Their exact narrative content remains ambiguous, but of the several open-ended possibilities contained within these paintings, all embody a courageous hopefulness, a refusal of cruelty.

Iosilzon uses transparent fabric through which we can just make out the stretcher bars as fluid gestures of oil paint draw the eye around the entire surface. Her subjects appear to spring from the flood, transforming into animals and hybridized versions of themselves. Titles like “White Transparent Frogs” and “Lobster Tail Flowers (Shellfish)” reference remarkable features of different creatures, and dots, dashes, crescents, and waves undulate around the figures as they undergo immense and dramatic metamorphoses.

Most of these works comprise part of the artist’s recent solo show Heaven’s Chambers at Carvalho Park, which represents Iosilzon in the U.S. The exhibition will be included in Anomie’s forthcoming survey, The Anomie Review of Contemporary British Painting 3, scheduled for release later this spring.

If you’re in London, you can catch her upcoming solo exhibition at Berntson Bhattacharjee, which opens on March 28. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

“Abacus” (2023)

“Apples and Honey Land” (2023)

“White Transparent Frogs” (2022)

“Heaven’s Chambers, Shofar Hair” (2023)

“Lobster Tail Flowers (Shellfish)”

“Noah’s Ark” (2023)

“Shofar, Sound of Sabbath, New Moon” (2023)

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Yulia Iosilzon’s Paintings Transform an Ancient Flood Narrative Into an Elegant Observance of Renewal appeared first on Colossal.

In the realm of the ultra-rich, art has transcended its traditional role as a form of self-expression and become a symbol of wealth and cultural significance. On February 12, 2024, the contemporary art market reached new heights with a series of record-breaking sales that turned heads and sparked conversations about the true value of art.

Masterpieces and their Mega Prices

Among the most iconic artworks to fetch staggering prices at auctions are Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’, which sold for an unprecedented $450.3 million, and the 1962 Ferrari GTO, which changed hands for a cool $70 million. These sales have cemented the status of such masterpieces as not just works of art but also as blue-chip investments.

But it’s not just paintings and cars that are commanding astronomical prices. Luxurious houses, watches, jewelry, and handbags are also highly sought-after by those looking to assert their status and success. In this rarefied world, ownership of such items is a sign that the owner has arrived – and they have the means to prove it.

The Art of Scandal

The secretive dealings of the art industry were thrust into the spotlight recently when Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev accused renowned auction house Sotheby’s of orchestrating an elaborate art scam that cost him millions. The high-stakes legal showdown has raised questions about the transparency and ethics of the art market, and whether it is truly a level playing field for all.

This scandal is not an isolated incident. In recent years, there have been numerous cases of art fraud, forgery, and price manipulation that have shaken the faith of collectors and investors alike. As the value of art continues to rise, so too does the risk of falling victim to unscrupulous dealers and auction houses.

Investing in Art: A Risky Business?

Despite these risks, many investors remain bullish on the art market, seeing it as a safe haven in times of economic uncertainty. The record-breaking sales of Roy Lichtenstein’s prints, for example, demonstrate the significant growth in sales value, lots sold, and average selling price over the past decade.

But is investing in art really a wise move? While some collectors have undoubtedly reaped huge rewards, others have seen their investments plummet in value. The art market is notoriously fickle, and what is considered valuable today may be worthless tomorrow.

Ultimately, the decision to invest in art is a highly personal one that requires careful consideration and due diligence. For those who are willing to take the risk, the rewards can be immense – both financially and culturally. But for others, the allure of owning a masterpiece may be nothing more than an expensive illusion.

Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’Willem de Kooning’s ‘Interchange’

Paul Cézanne’s ‘The Card Players’Paul Gauguin’s ‘Nafea Faa Ipoipo’Jackson Pollock’s ‘Number 17A’

Mark Rothko’s ‘No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red)’Pablo Picasso’s ‘Les Femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’)’Andy Warhol’s ‘Shot Sage Blue Marilyn’

Francis Bacon’s ‘Three Studies of Lucian Freud’Gustav Klimt’s ‘Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II’

In the ongoing conversation between art, commerce, and the human experience, these record-breaking sales represent pivotal moments that have captivated the world and reshaped the way we think about the value of art. Whether seen as monumental investments or simply as priceless cultural artifacts, these masterpieces continue to captivate our imaginations and inspire us to dream.