Embroidery for Dress c. 1936

Gladys Parker made this design for dress embroidery, and in it, there’s this simple, flat red form, then suddenly this intricate dance of circles and flower-like shapes. I can imagine Parker, with her artist's eye, dreaming up new ways for a dress to bloom. Those repeated motifs – they're not just decoration, they’re a rhythm, a pulse. I see the hand that drew each curve and circle, each tiny petal. It's so precise, yet, I bet, Parker allowed for a little improvisation – a slightly thicker line here, a slightly larger flower there. It’s so beautiful to think about the conversation between artists across generations. Parker’s embroidery design speaks to the history of decoration, but also points to the future, where artists keep finding new ways to make the ordinary extraordinary. Painting, embroidery, design – it’s all about seeing and sharing what we see.