Family trees and connections

Family have been much in my mind this week, family visits, family birthdays and family poorly and in hospital. (Sending lots of love to my dear Dad and hoping he is up and about again very soon).

I  love my family and am fascinated by the links we have, the family traits and characteristics.  When I look at old family photos it sets me wondering, where did those  traits and characteristics come from.  Who could draw like I can?  Where did the pale skin and red hair that my Mom, daughter and I have come from? And where did they live my ancestors? How did they meet? what was their favourite song, their favourite food. So many questions, so many stories.


Many years ago my Mom developed a passion for tracing our family tree,  discovering the pieces of the jigsaw and writing down the stories of our ancestors. I love to hear the stories, the snippets of information she uncovers, they are part of us, part of our heritage.  So far we are back to the early 1800's: all these people I am connected to from so long ago: the Jennings, Flanners, Bagleys, Days, the Jones, Herberts, Blackwells, Jobs, Bloxams! They came from Warwickshire and Oxford-shire, Glasgow and Switzerland, Birmingham and Worcestershire.

They were  gamekeepers, pen nib makers, gunsmiths, carters, glassblowers, glaziers, shoe makers, canal boat workers, plumbers, spoon makers, chandelier makers.Where did the creative side some from I wonder?
As Mom collected more and more stories and names that made up branches of our tree, I decided I had to create a painting to record all those names, all those people we were connected to, as a way to remember them.

 It took many sketches and doodles to come up with a design that was easy to read and on which I could fit all the names and dates. So I created my family tree flower design, it worked beautifully allowing me to add all the siblings in each family too.

Since that very first tree I have created many other family trees for folk, each one is a challenge, each one is unique. I love that I am part of the process and helping to create a family keepsake, a memory tree for those who have gone before and those still to come.

My Family trees have been given as Birthday gifts, and to celebrate anniversaries, as  wedding gifts and as new baby gifts. If you are interested in having your very own family tree created just drop me a line. I have a wide range of designs on my website that can be altered to fit in your own family members, your favorite colours, a special quote or memory. I am happy to discuss design ideas and love working with my customers to unfold the branches of their trees.

 www.ruthieredden.com