When this non-traditional self-portrait was done, the artist was recovering from a major surgery to remove a portion of his lung. On his feet are boots once owned by Howard Pyle, founder of the Brandywine school of painting, as well as the teacher of Andrew's father: artist and illustrator N.C. Wyeth. Here, the boots walk over Kuerner's Hill in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania - an area that Andrew Wyeth walked all his life. (http://andrewwyeth.com/gallery) The artist had surgery to remove a large portion of one lung in January 1951 due to an incurable lung disease. In a matter of weeks, the artist was at work again despite two near death experiences and the necessity to cut through muscles in his painting arm. The painting Trodden Weed was completed in March. (http://andrewwyeth.com/timeline/)