Some family trees have been pruned, branches grafted in, blended. It can be complicated, explaining relations to a baby. How do you show step-parents and extra grandmas and grandpas married in?
I ended up painting dashed lines that connected mom to her divorced parents and new spouses. I loved the client's desire to put what the baby will call each grandparent first, before their legal name, so Mom Mom, Pop Pop, Nonnie, GiGi, Granddad, Nana, and Pap have grown-up names, too, for historical help if Baby Addison ever wants to know their other names!
This is the last addition in the Pink Snail Nursery: a family tree. I don't want to post all their family info, but here is the tree before the "Hibiscus" Benjamin Moore paint names are added. The background uses the same paint from the walls with tinier shiny polka dots painted behind the tree. Cool effect when you catch it in the light, but hard to show with a camera. You have to see it in person.
This way, when they move into their someday house and the mural is painted over or left behind, they will take a piece of history with them!
I dropped this off today and was delighted to see Addison, beautiful baby! (And to meet her grandma! I told her I knew how she fit on her family tree and asked her if she was named after her father--knowing family history details opens up a world of delightful stories. When I see a maiden name of a great grandparent who marries someone with a name that would have fallen alphabetically next in a classroom, I wonder if they sat by each other in school, and when that crush turned into true love?)
Suzanna saw this and thought it would be cool if I made one for her...Can you say Christmas presents?
