Nature is the inspiration for many artists. Two artists, Rosa Beryl and Carin Teresa, have solo shows on display at Salmon Falls Gallery in Shelburne Falls, both drawing from their love of nature.

“The plant queendom has guided me through some of life’s hardest lessons, and for that, I feel that I owe her my deepest devotion,” Rosa Beryl, a Greenfield-based artist who has a background in permaculture and environmental design, said.

Beryl’s acrylic work usually comes to her in a vision after looking and interacting with certain plants. She then takes that vision and plays with light in the piece, adding dimensions to the work. She described her work as a “fuse of genres” incorporating realism, visionary and contemporary abstraction into the finished product.

Aside from her self-taught art practice, Beryl is interested in herbalism and natural healing. She hopes people will be inspired by her art to look at plants differently. “I want my art to be that kind of driver for people to stop and learn about plants and connect with the world around them,” she said.

This is Beryl’s first gallery show. Her work was displayed virtually during the first year of the pandemic. “I use my art to inspire people to connect with the world around them,” she said.

Teresa also uses her work to inspire a connection with nature, specifically cold water swimming.

She began cold water swimming as a daily practice to improve her mental health when she became physically disabled and houseless in 2020. As her practice grew, she began guiding others to use cold water swimming as a “meditation, yoga, bodywork, and therapy all at once,” she explained.

She then started taking photos of the experiences – combining nature and boudoir photography in one piece – to document the project. “I really don’t see photographs as the core of my art, rather the playful healing experience itself with bonus added photographic proof,” she said.

The photos do allow for the accessibility of the practice for people who are not ready to plunge into the freezing water themselves. Instead, viewers can see the faces and bodies of others who have gone through the experience.

“It is uniquely human to strip down. One layer at a time, progressing towards an ultimate tangible truth,” Teresa said. “To forgo all layers in winter is a different game of its own. The icy water washes away all shame or fear of nakedness. To stand bare before the cold natural world and to throw your head back to the sunlight, choosing the love of freedom over the terror of self-consciousness, this act changes you.”

Teresa is not the only one interested in cold water swimming. A worldwide trend popularized by Dutch motivational speaker Wim Hof and the Outdoor Swimming Society has introduced many to the practice. Teresa’s art show gives a unique glance at how this international trend is forming in the secret swim spots of Franklin County, and it may also inspire others to try it out.

She explained she gains trust with her clients by taking the photos from a place of radical body love.

“The ice formations are stunning and change every day. There was a whole new visual world in front of me that first winter and I just wanted to share the awe I was experiencing being in it for the first time,” she said.

Salmon Falls Gallery is located at 1 Ashfield St. and is open Thursday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Both Rosa Beryl and Carin Teresa’s solo shows are on display until June 25. 

Reach Bella Levavi at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.

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