Hand and Foot ~ Rattlesnake Roundup ~ Cindy

"Hand and Foot"
Watercolor portrait of Cindy Yandell, 11" x 15"
In the art collection of C. Yandell
My photo that this painting is based on (2005) of Cindy was taken at a Canvas by Canvas painting retreat in East Texas while we were playing Hand and Foot and I painted and titled it in honor of Cindy and the game we were playing, and entered it in a SWA juried show and it won an award. During this year, I will be paying tribute to individual members of Canvas by Canvas and this post is all about Cindy and a little about the integrity of this painting. It is the original and not a copy.

In between 3 five day workshops with Robert Burridge at Dena Wenmohs, Mel Stabin in San Miguel, and Pat Dews in Dallas, I returned home and helped with the Neil Sperry Home and Garden Show. While there I found out that on Saturday Karen and Cindy (don't let that calm demeanor deceive you) had been on a Rattlesnake Roundup at a ranch west of Fort Worth. These ladies have grit. They didn't make it to the Sweetwater festival but ventured about one half way in between at a friend's ranch for a private roundup. West Texas ranchers started to control this rangeland nuisance by round ups and it has grown into a world famous event in Sweetwater. These are not any old harmless chicken snakes either but the bona fide big Texas daddies - the Western diamond back rattlesnake... the biggest and baddest of them all. They impart more serious and fatal bites than any other North American Snake and reach up to 5 feet in length and tend to swallow without chewing their prey. Read more at our Star Telegram story about Sweetwater. On Sunday at the Garden Show, Karen presented me with an envelope and said they had brought me some "snake eggs" as a souvenir and no way would I open it as I've had some experiences with Karen before. I suggested she open it and I still screamed. They had rigged up a paper clip and a rubber band device that was wound tightly in the envelope and when expanded it gave off a fast-paced buzz making you think the eggs just hatched. I found out online how to make one but I'm discouraging that type of heart failure activity.

Cindy, besides being a snake charmer and "Hand and Foot" player, orders and brings to our meetings our blank canvases, and she is always willing to drive us anywhere and she doesn't get mad if we forget to tell her to "turn here", and she's a great painter and is always ready to paint your square if you can't. She's just an all around pleasant person to be around and fun too - ready to go out to eat. to a movie, or join you for a weekend with complete strangers at an alumni campout. Cindy is taking dance lessons at the present and we expect some instruction at our next paint out.

Cindy, CBC, is so fortunate to have you as a member and I'm fortunate to have you as a friend.
But I'm glad I call De Leon my home town where we have the annual Peach and Melon Festival each August. The most fearsome thing around is the heat and you just search for a shady spot to eat some cold slices of watermelon instead of deep fried rattlesnake.

More to come about the incredible workshops but here are some Cindy and Karen photos.

Cindy and Karen

Yuk!


Cindy


Cindy putting her prize in the barrel


Karen doing likewise


Check out those rocks and bet they missed some