A complete change of tack for me with Round 5. The previous series is well and truly finished and now I find myself going back to some of my military roots for the time being. I’m not sure where it will lead me at this point but come along on the journey to find out.

The prompt “embrace imperfection” speaks to me in different ways however recently I was listening to one of our stars in NZ Rugby in Sam Whitelock and about working in a team. Sam quite rightly says you don’t have to be best friends with everyone in your team, but you do have to respect their ability to do their job and have your back when its needed. This makes total sense.

With this piece it’s about the respect each soldier gives to the rest in their regiment. It doesn’t matter who they are or what background they come from, they each know their roles and have each other’s back in conflict. Their lives depend on it! They don’t care if they are neatly dressed like on the parade ring, they take each other for who they are, mistakes and all, as they know they will have each other’s back and fight to keep them safe.

I remember my dad telling stories about different people in his regiment, what they got up to, how they behaved, but he always respected them as a soldier, one who would do they job. Every ANZAC day, April 25th, New Zealand and Australia come together to remember the fallen and that was a day dad sat quietly and remembered.

Deconstructed screen-printed fabric, stencilled and painted hand dyed fabrics. Machine pieced and fused applique. Machine quilted. Size 40 in H x 20 1/4 in W