Pencil Artist, Stephen A. Malkoff Louisiana Seven Sisters Oak #296/2000

Malkoff is a nationally recognized nature artist creating work ranging from arbor still life to collegiate and wildlife representation. Stephen A. Malkoff is an architect and internationally known artist. He has been described as the country's leading arboreal artist. He formerly served as the designated artist of the National Historic Tree Register. Malkoff and his work have been featured in Southern Living, Country Living, Guideposts and many newspaper articles and television interviews. He is one of the only living artists to have his work permanently displayed in the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens. Malkoff's subjects stretch from Florida to Hawaii. Seven Sisters Oak, located in Mandeville, Louisiana, is a notably large southern live oak in Louisiana. Seven Sisters Oak is the current president of the Live Oak Society, a status awarded to it by being the largest live oak registered by the society. Although there was some controversy as to whether the oak was one tree or several trees that had grown together, an inspection by professional foresters in 1976 determined that the tree developed from a single root system. In 2016, Seven Sisters Oak had a girth of 39.6 ft (12.1 m) (measured at 1.6 ft (0.49 m) height). At that time, the tree's total height was 57 ft (17 m). In 2018, its limb spread exceeded 153 ft (47 m). The age of Seven Sisters Oak has been estimated at between 500 and 1,000 years old. It sits at the edge of Mandeville, near Lake Pontchartrain.