Number 5 of 12 prompts around change and it was my turn to provide a prompt. I chose “Habits'” because we all have them in some shape or form. For example each morning getting up and showering and brushing teeth is a habit instilled in us from childhood. We know the consequences of breaking those habits with smelly body and bad teeth therefore these habits are easy enough to maintain. Its the other habits you try to create that are easier to fall through the cracks of day to day life.

My piece is about breaking the habit and then going through the pain of recreating it! I like to get up in the morning and get on my exercycle and cycle for 35 minutes with increasing intensity. Unfortunately over the last 8 months my life turned upside down when I was restructured out of the paid job I love. As I was going through the process I found it increasingly difficult to get up in the morning and get onto my exercycle and of course it got to the point when I just wasn’t doing it!

I knew I should be exercising and that I would feel better for it however I just couldn’t as life was just too tough. The restructure came and went and I was now without my job. I felt the chain had been broken during this period but also now that it was over the pressure had been lifted. As a result I kicked myself virtually up the proverbial and said you need to get back on the bike……..and I am pleased to say I have done that. As the storms have passed and the clouds have lifted I feel better in myself and each day I am doing more and more. The daily cycle routine has been re-established and I’m feeling much better for it.

With this round I said at the outset that I was going to work in a theme and have sizes descending from circa 24 inches wide down to 9 inches and then back up to 24. This piece is about 12 inches wide and 40 inches tall (they all have to be 40 inches tall) and I have found that because I am working in a series (or I have created the habit of doing something similar each time and bouncing off the previous piece) that the works are evolving and getting more sophisticated. My colours have changes and deepened as have the symbols. When I lay them out side by side its really interesting to see the changes. What I need is to find a place where I can hang them alongside each other and photograph them all so that I can show you. That maybe after the next one is the 6th and smallest width piece before I start graduating them up again.

This piece is made with my own hand dyed and painted photos, machine pieced, fused applique and machine quilted. It is 12 inches wide and 40 inches tall.