Beth Hall is proprietor of SubHerban Roots, a regional company specializing in ecologically homegrown and custom handmade herbal products. Visit SubHerban Roots at SubHerbanRoots.com.
Hall’s interest in the art of herbalism began during her graduate studies in Belize and Guatemala in the late 90s where she learned first hand the importance of plant medicines and the urgency of protecting both the plants and the cultures that pass on the knowledge of them. In the old market of Belize City, Hall sought out the guidance of Barbara Fernandez, who the locals simply called “medicine woman”. Fernandez stressed the relevance of using all of ones senses to know and to understand plant medicines. This insight and appeal to the senses became an inspiration for Hall to approach and study herbalism as an artform and as a welcomed opportunity to accompany the psychological healing power of visual art with an artform for healing the body. Hall’s formal herbalism studies include Foundations of Medicinal Herbalism and Herbal Apothecary with Teresa Boardwine, RH(AHG), and The Forgotten Energetics of Traditional Western Herbalism, the Six Tissue States and Diagnostic Skills with Matthew Wood, RH(AHG).