Creative 50th wedding anniversary gift for in-laws

I love when people order my family tree paintings as creative 50th anniversary gifts for their in-laws.  It warms my heart to know that people love and appreciate their in-laws the same as their own parents. In my mind that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be.  You marry a person and get his/her parents as an awesome bonus.  After all who wouldn’t want to have a second set of parents to love you, right?  I’m fully aware that it doesn’t always work out quite like that, but it’s wonderful when it does!

Beautiful family tree illustration for a beautiful couple

I recently got an order for a “Then and Now” family tree.  It was commissioned by a lady for her in-laws 50th wedding anniversary. One of the very first things she told me was “They’re such nice people!”  I couldn’t agree with her more, especially after I found out a bit more about them.  They attend church, keep pets (in my book you automatically earn extra credits for having pets), and have a solid loving marriage.  My client’s father-in-law even learned how to play tennis so he could play it with his wife.  Who wouldn’t want a husband like that???

I was inspired and set out on a mission to create a family tree painting that would reflect the couple’s numerous hobbies (tennis included!). My goal was to make the painting look ‘upbeat and happy’ (if that makes sense).  I wanted the family tree to look bright and to beam with positive energy.  Luckily my client asked me to make the tree leaves as colorful as possible.  That part was so much fun to work on! 

However, this family tree illustration wasn’t without it’s challenges. Throughout my career as a family tree artist I have painted lots of things that I thought I’d never paint.  They included all types of cars, motorcycles, and boats.  One thing I haven’t painted up until now was an aircraft carrier….  and I had to do just that for this family tree painting.  My client’s father-in-law served on one when he was in the Navy and she wanted to include it in the artwork.  To be honest, it’s not the easiest thing to paint!  Especially when you’re unfamiliar with what one looks like.  But I did it and now I can cross it off my list of unusual things to add to a family tree painting.

Creative gift for in-laws’ 50th anniversary. Custom hand-painted family tree that tells their life story in colorful details.

Unique details to make your family tree as unique as your family

While there are some elements that my clients see in my previous artwork and request in their own family tree paintings, I also try to make sure that I make each artwork unique.  I always try to come up with something that I’ve never painted before to add to every new painting I create.  In the case of this particular family tree illustration I came up with a rather clever visual element, if I may say so myself.  When my client told me how her father-in-law learned how to play tennis to spend more time with his wife I decided to use tennis rackets to form a heart. I also added the helm with the name of the couple’s boat on it to the background. To honor the couple’s previous pets I wrote their names on the flower leaves behind the wife.

I shipped the painting and waited to hear how my client’s in-laws would react to their surprise 50th anniversary gift.  Not only did my client wrote to me that they loved it, but she also send me a photo of them to the painting. I do have the best clients!  …as well as the most satisfying job.

If you would like to order a family tree painting for your in-laws’ wedding anniversary please contact the artist or go directly to the Shop section. 

For more examples of my family tree art please visit the Gallery page