I found out a couple of weeks ago that I was nominated for a Brand South Australia Regional Award. The person who nominated me chose to do that anonymously, so I can’t thank them in person. Instead I thought I would thank them here, on my blog, and write a little bit about how important it is to me to be a Regional South Australian artist!
First of all…thank you to the person who nominated me. That was the first step in the process, and from there I also had to fill out an online questionnaire to enter the awards. It made me think a lot about myself as an artist, and in particular as a regional South Australian artist.
I was born in the country, and bred in the country, but when I was old enough I couldn’t wait to leave the country! I had big plans to go to University, to get a degree, and to get a good job in the city.
I did all of that, and I am still glad that I did. It gave me opportunities to travel the world, and to live in all sorts of different cities, which I did for many years.
But, when it came time to settling down, I couldn’t think of a better place to do that than Adelaide. And when it came time to starting a family, we couldn’t think of a better place to raise our kids than the country! My husband is a school teacher, so we applied for jobs in regional areas, and were lucky enough to start out at the high school in Mount Gambier. After 2 years of living in the South East, family pulled us closer to Adelaide, and we are now happily settled in Murray Bridge.
South Australia is my home, and I am proud to be South Australian. No matter where I travel, I always look for Coopers Ale to drink (and it can be found in Tulsa, Oklahoma by the way)!
When I started recycling glass bottles to make beads, I deliberately picked two South Australian icons – Coopers and Banrock Station. Both companies have very impressive environmental philosophies and standards, and that fit really well with the work that I was doing.
I have used most of the Coopers beer bottles, from Coopers Sparkling Ale to Coopers Clear. And I have also used several of the Banrock Station wine bottles. People must think I am very strange when I am in Dan Murphy’s and I am holding the wine bottle up to the light to see what colour glass bottle it is in!
To celebrate my award nomination, and to also celebrate the re-launch of ethikl (an online marketplace committed to selling items that are eco-friendly/ethically produced), I have loaded a selection of Banrock Station and Coopers Ale products into my ethikl shop, and discounted them by 10%.
Go South Aussies!
