American Chestnuts

If ever there was American royalty, it lived in the American Chestnut with its enormous trunk, glorious crown and contributions to our holiday feasts. Its forests spread canopies from New York to the Midwest for centuries until a foreign invader – an Asian fungus – nearly obliterated the species in the early 20th Century. Today, a few remaining examples are protected in Northern Wisconsin, and viewable by invitation only. My paintings are of these survivors.