We checked in with some of the neighborhood-based artists we have profiled over the years to find out what they’re working on.
Annette Polan
A year ago, Polan told us about the work that “helped me survive the isolation of the pandemic.” Covid Mandala: Meditations on an Emergency is a visual journal, she says, “of all that happened in the world from March 31, 2020 – March 31, 2021.”
“The basic shape, a circle within a square is a geometry that carries symbolic meaning throughout the centuries in almost all religions and cultures,” Polan tells us. And, “Geometry was the vehicle to begin an investigation, through reading and through painting, of the natural significance of geometric forms. I learned that every culture and every religion used geometric ratios and shapes in much the same way for much the same reasons: to confirm the relationship between man and nature.”
A new series was born – “a major change from the portraits I have painted for decades.”
If you see echoes of Joan Mitchell’s paintings from the 1950s and 60s, the Washington Color School, and the backgrounds of some of her own portrait paintings, that’s no coincidence. However, “the evolving paintings are uniquely mine. They unleash the power and joy of color within the restrictions of imposed geometric structures.”
Deborah LaCroix
There’s still time to catch Strathmore’s 32nd Annual Juried Exhibition at The Mansion at Strathmore (10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda, Maryland) before it ends on March 2nd. And there, you will see LaCroix’s Edible Forest.
Lacroix also has a solo show in March at Gallery B in Bethesda (7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E) – one that merited a mention in a DCist roundup of places to see fine art in the area. Her show, “Celebrate the Feminine,” begins with the opening reception on March 8th, includes an artist talk on March 23rd, and ends on March 31st. You’ll find the exhibit hours and other details here.
Robin Rose
Rose is an encaustic painter. In other words, he works with hot wax. Rose uses beeswax, damar varnish, and carnauba wax mixed with pigments. He fashions whatever tools he needs to get the desired effect: “hot wire, hot stones, wet weeks, modified iron, and sharpened wood.” He considered his methods “close to alchemy.” And when he is working, he tries not to think too hard about what he is doing.
“What I’ve learned, is to listen to the painting, when it’s telling the truth, it will guide you,” Rose says. “In order to see what it’s telling you, you have to get out of the way. Getting out of the way is my focus.”
Rose is currently accepting commissions and trying to work at places other than his own studio. He wants people to see what he does, up close and personal.
“My work is about light and it’s interaction with the actual surface of the painting, color shifts, dimensional and illusional aspects. Digital images do not do it justice,” Rose says.
Rose is represented by Hemphill Fine Arts.
Joan Danziger
“I have been busy in my studio with my new series of glass ravens,” which will be exhibited in February 2026 at American University’s Katzen Arts Center, Danziger told Forest Hills Connection. A second show at Katzen Arts will be a retrospective of her drawings, paintings and sculptures dating back to 1985.
When we first introduced you to Danziger, in 2012, she was preparing to show her colorful glass beetle sculptures at the same museum.
David Cohen
In 2023, when Cohen wasn’t traveling and adding more wonderful wildlife photos to his portfolio, he was giving presentations about his craft to fellow photographers and birders. He provided photos for posters identifying local wildlife at Rock Creek Park. He had photos published in Nature Forward Quarterly and Birding, the magazine of the American Birding Association. And, he exhibited his work at a curated solo show from May to September in the main gallery of the Cosmos Club.
In 2024, Cohen will do more presentations and two more solo shows: in August at the National Wildlife Visitors Center at Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, Maryland; and from September through November at the Brookside Nature Center in Wheaton Regional Park, Wheaton, Maryland. To see more than 1,300 wildlife photos from around the world – a number that’s still growing! – check his Instagram account at DavidCohenPhotoDC.
Are you an artist who lives or creates in the Forest Hills Connection coverage area (Forest Hills, Van Ness, North Cleveland Park, Wakefield)? We’d love to learn more about you, and share your work. Write us at [email protected].
Rebecca Stevens says
Thank you for the update on our artist neighbors!