Wisconsin’s Ancient White Cedars are the oldest trees and forests in Eastern North America. My paintings for Wisconsin focus on the Cedar’s relationship with the Niagara Escarpment, a vertical ecosystem that has preserved these trees for over 1300 years. I conducted the research by kayak, paddling to Islands in Lake Michigan off the Door County Peninsula, to areas where the Escarpment reaches heights of 200 feet. The Cedar forests perch on the upper edges, pushing roots down through the rock strata. The escarpment was formed by the ice age and gives a glimpse into how our planet was formed. Understanding it and the trees’ survival requires stepping back to the Silurian period 430 million years ago, when a vast inland sea encompassed parts of northern Wisconsin. The escarpment is the shoreline of that ancient sea. It formed a snaking line of cliffs hundreds of miles long and its cliff dwelling trees are now among the world’s oldest organisms.

White Cedar 1 / (Ancient White Cedar and Niagara Escarpment, Lake Michigan, Wisconsin), 54 x 72 x 2 inches, oil on canvas on panel, 2025.