[bright music]
- Dora Elia Garcia: Navidad in San Antonio is full of parties,
full of family gatherings, full of color.
The weather is always beautiful here.
In fact, we would love for it to be a little colder.
[laughing]
Garcia Art Glass is very much a family affair.
We have three women that run the business.
It's my mother, whose name is Dora.
It's myself and also my sister Gini.
Gini is really the one who started the company.
- We complement each other.
Gini does all the designs,
Dora interprets her designs in glass.
And then, I take care of the business side of it.
[laughing]
[bright music]
- Dora Elia: We have a master glassblower that works with us.
His name is Gerardo Muņoz.
[speaking Spanish]
From him, we've learned so much
about the glassblowing in Mexico,
which is our original home.
- Gerardo: [speaking Spanish]
- Dora Elia: And I think we carry that Latin connection
in our bright Christmas ornaments.
[bright music]
We make ornaments with recycled glass,
broken shards of glass.
We pick them up onto the hot glass and melt them in.
The Italians are known for their glassblowing techniques,
but it's been an art in Mexico for a very long time.
Glass is the most noble of mediums to work with.
It's so strong and yet so fragile.
- Gerardo: [speaking Spanish]
- Dora Elia: When we work with it, it's always surprising us.
We're always sort of chasing it.
- Gerardo: [speaking Spanish]
- Dora Elia: We just never quite know
its reaction with the colors.
- Gerardo: [speaking Spanish]
We have years of experience.
And so we're know where we're heading to with the piece
and where we want to go with it.
But the glass somehow always keeps you guessing.
- Gerardo: [speaking Spanish] - Dora Elia: Okay.
We have a very unique way to make a Christmas ornament.
We like to throw little stringers of glass
into the pipe to fall into the sphere.
[both speaking Spanish]
[gentle string music]
People always walk into our gallery
and say "Oh, God, this is just like San Antonio."
The bright colors, the Hispanic presence here.
Hopefully, future Garcia generations
can continue it going.