"It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a life time to paint like a child”

~ Pablo Picasso
Great Grandparents Anna and Carlo Yaconelli

Christina’s family has always been one of pride for her ancestry. “My ancestors made me who I am today and I frequently think of their footsteps in life as I create art”

Christina’s family is a combination of European lineages, including Italy, Germany and Ireland. “All three of these ancestral groups are so special to me as they have given this family and this country so much.”

“The Irish came across the U.S. in wagon trains many generations back and settled in Oregon, eventually becoming loggers. Growing up in Oregon, my grandmother was a young woman in the middle
of a rough logging town. She could shoot a gun, work on cars and ran her own taxi service which ran between Oregon and California.”

“The Germans go back seven generations to Ohio. They were carpenters and home builders who added practicality and good, wholesome living to our family mix. We still have superb builders and contractors in the family.”

Christina's Grandfather
as Pancho

“The Italians are a very colorful addition to our family tree. Our great grandparents and grandfather all came from Northern Italy, the towns of Bonito and Caserta. My great grandparents were dancers, musicians and street artists. They supposedly traveled throughout Europe and even Russia to perform. My great grandparents eventually came to the U.S. and settled in Boston. My grandfather continued in the arts and was a musician,

Oil painting by Frank Yaconelli

stuntman for old movies, a vaudeville actor and a film director. However, he is best known for his work as Pancho in the old black and white version of the Cisco Kid with Gilbert Roland. He acted in numerous films in Hollywood including Dr. Cyclops, It Happened One Night with Clark Cable, and A Night at the Opera with Groucho Marx. In addition, during World War II, he performed numerous USO shows for our overseas troops.”

 


For more information, please visit http://www.b-westerns.com/pals4a.htm.

 

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