Good "Shoulds" for the month of March

Well that’s February done. The heat, humidity and rain we’ve come to expect. And now it’s March. And what do you have to show for 1/6th of a year since New Year’s Eve? Probably more than you think but not as much as you’d hoped.

WORDS: CAROLYN SWINDELL

No problems though. March gives us 31 full days to get some things done before we start talking about the year being a quarter over.

So here are some practical ideas for things you can, nay SHOULD, focus on achieving in March (don’t worry, I’m not going to suggest you scrub anything or clean out gutters –this is a list of GOOD shoulds).

1. Eat a Hot Cross Bun every single day of this month Toast it and add butter. Fruit, no fruit, take your pick. Just do it. See, although the retailers have these things on sale now before the tinsel is even packed away (eye-roll), good manners suggest that the month of March is really the only full month of the year we should be scarfing these delicious little suckers down. So DO NOT WASTE THIS OPPORTUNITY.

2. Vote. We all have to go to the polls on March 25th and that’s actually an enormous privilege. It’s also an enormously good chance to participate in that most-Australian of electoral traditions – the democracy sausage. These are usually made by volunteers from the local public school so you’re doing good by eating well. But it’s also about embracing our culture. And the more we do this, the more it is likely to spread. Like, did you notice that the Super Bowl advertising was referring to McDonald’s as Maccas? This adoption of a Down Underism is a great leap forward for a country that had previously nicknamed their famous export Mickeys D’s or Golden Arches (eye-roll). If we could get our American friends to embrace the democracy sausage next, maybe we could even get them to embrace democracy (again), universal health-care and sensible gun laws. We can do it Australia. Eat that sausage sandwich on March 25th, make the world a better place.

3. Swim in the ocean. Around Easter, the water starts to get cold again. And unless you’re one of those hardy winter swimming types (eye-roll), it won’t be this good again until January. Do it now.

4. Track down Easter Eggs that your children won’t see being sold in the petrol station. I won’t go into the reasons here, in case they are reading this, but you know why. Start looking now.

5. Shop local. Try to buy everything you need for the month of March within a 1km radius of The Village Observer distribution points. We did that 5km thing during Covid, we can manage this.

6. Watch the netball on TV – especially if you never have before. Better yet, go to a game and cheer on a Sydney team - the Swifts or the Giants. Since Australia defeated New Zealand in the first ever international netball match in 1938 (yeah!), we’ve pretty much dominated the world rankings. Super Netball season is about to start and if you want to watch top quality sport played by athletes who won’t get themselves on the front page of newspaper for the wrong reasons, do yourself a favour.

7. Ride a bike – but please, please, please, wear a helmet Not wanting to be a drag, but this year marks 40 years since my school friend died at age 13 from an entirely-preventable head injury on her bike in her own quiet suburban street. Bike-riding is the bomb. Looking after your head is just using your head.

8. Book yourself a holiday. Even if it’s just blocking the time in your diary and starting to save, it’s time to start planning your next bit of R&R.

Now, go forth and start ticking things off your list. If you get all of that done in March, you’ll end the month a hero. Thank me later.

Gallery Lane Cove + Creative Studios presents two new exhibitions by women artists for International Women’s Day.

In celebration of International Women’s Day, Gallery Lane Cove + Creative Studios presents two new exhibitions featuring works from female-identifying artists, as part of their inaugural International Women’s Day Exhibition Program. During March, the gallery will be showing a solo exhibition by local artist Jane Bodnaruk titled ‘is it over yet?’, and the group exhibition ‘Edition Four’ curated by artist-run-initiative More Than Reproduction.

The two exhibitions will address themes of womanhood, identity, and place through experimental art making processes and materials. The International Women’s Day exhibition program seeks to provide a platform for women artists to share their work, and support emerging creatives in Sydney.

More Than Reproduction (MTR) is a Sydney-based artist-run printmaking initiative, dedicated to strengthening printmaking practices in Australia. They strive to build a sense of creative community and provide a platform for artists in the early stages of their careers - specifically women and gender diverse creatives.

Every March, coinciding with the anniversary of the collective’s founding and International Women’s Day, MTR holds an exhibition of women artists curated from their monthly artist profile program. Marking the fourth exhibition in the annual ‘Edition’ series, ‘Edition Four’ seeks to spotlight experimentation as a methodology within what is considered to be traditional printmaking processes of etching, linocut, serigraphy, lithography and monoprinting. The selected works push the boundaries of conventional printmaking, shifting mediums rooted in tradition into a contemporary and experimental place.

Featuring 15 women artists from NSW and ACT, it includes prominent emerging and mid-career artists Danielle Crenaune (represented by Australian Galleries), Carolyn Mckenzie Craig (Head of Printmaking, National Art School), and Linda Sok who is currently based in New York and was a finalist of the coveted 2022 Churchie Emerging Art Prize.

Alongside this dynamic show, Gallery Lane Cove + Creative Studios will also be presenting is it over yet?, a solo exhibition by Sydney-based artist Jane Bodnaruk. Through a series of delicate and intimate works, Bodnaruk interrogates how actions of care both connect and contrast with the value we put on textiles today, and how art can express a woman’s (often invisible) commitment to nurturing in daily, domestic life. Extending from a recent exhibition titled That was Then This is Now, Jane’s new offering archives headlines, actions and thoughts gathered from the past 3 years through embroidered tray cloths (or doilies). This new exhibition repositions itself into our post-lockdown and post pandemic context, where as the artist explains, “we are shrouded in a

As part of the IWD Exhibition Program, Gallery Lane Cove + Creative Studios is hosting an extensive lineup of public programs including artist talks and a combination of textile and printmaking workshops. Details can be found on the gallery’s website.

The two exhibitions will be showing at Gallery Lane Cove + Creative Studios from Wednesday 1 March until Saturday 1 April. Opening hours Tuesday - Friday 10:00am - 4:30pm and Saturdays 10:00am - 2:30pm.

Public Program information available at www.gallerylanecove.com.au/events