Textile artist Rosemary Hallgarten joins Friday Five to share her love of Mark Rothko, London travel finds, artisanal inspiration, and more.

Rosemary Hallgarten has an appreciation for all types of materials, with an early focus on knitting silver and gold wire to make jewelry. She enjoyed the process but found it limiting, and eventually decided to try her hand at the age-old craft favored by her mother, renowned rug artist Gloria Finn. ?When I delved into making hand-tufted rugs myself, everything changed,? Hallgarten says. ?I knew this was something that could fulfill me creatively, and the idea of turning it into a business took root.?
The British-born maker fashioned her first small rug for a bathroom in a designer showcase house, and just six months later received a commission for a 13- by 20-foot piece. Yet it was her first trip to Peru that shaped the vision she had for her eponymous company, which she founded in 2001. During her visit she met locals who were dyeing and weaving yarns by hand, and it became her mission to preserve these traditions. Today, artisans produce many of the products in the line, which includes floor coverings, throws, and pillows. The signature alpaca, hemp, and cotton fabrics are not only luxe, they are sustainable too. Rosemary Hallgarten
Hallgarten continues to celebrate design in all of its forms, and she hopes to turn her attention to the canvas again someday. ?I dabbled in painting from time to time,? she says, ?and still dre...