Rose Pearlman Blurs the Line Between Art and Craft

Rose Pearlman’s textile art blurs the lines between art and craft and pushes the boundaries with non-traditional techniques and materials. An artist, a teacher, and a textile designer, her work has been featured in fiber magazines, galleries, and numerous online design sites.

She also teaches monthly rug hooking workshops in and around her home in NYC. “Rug hooking with a punch needle blends artistic expression with tactile material,” she explained in an interview with Making. According to Pearlman, it’s a simple technique that creates looped stitches of fiber onto a cloth surface. “The medium can easily be controlled and designed,” she says. “Hooked rugs can be used for a variety of home accessories and objects.”

With a background in fine arts and a love of well designed functional objects, Pearlman took to rug hooking as a way of staying creative while staying at home with her young children. While painting involved a separate studio space with long stretches of solitude, rug hooking took little space, made little mess, and was easily picked up and put down throughout the day – making it the ideal medium for her.

“Finding a way to do what I love and make an income, and not burn out is still a struggle to balance,” admits Pearlman. “I know trying to produce enough products to sell would eventually take away from the love of creating. While making a business of rug hooking removes you from the actual process, teaching workshops feeds my creativity and passion. I am able to share my love of rug hooking, create work at a comfortable pace and stay true to my vision.”

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