Sisters’ art adds flair to fiesta

Sisters’ art adds flair to fiesta
By ELLENA FORTNER
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

A beat-up Volkswagen Rabbit was a source of continual arguments between sisters Tara Martinez Brezic and Jeannette Martinez Youle when they were teenagers in the early ’90s.

So was the telephone. And clothes.

“We had some knock-down, drag-out fights,” said Brezic who, at 34, is four years older than her sister.

Youle agreed. “We hated each other,” she said with a smile.

But creating jewelry from beads and crystals has healed those childhood rifts.

Working under the name The Gypsy Wagon, the sisters are displaying their wares at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center on Lake Grapevine as part of the hotel’s Riverwalk Fiesta. Every weekend for the next two months or so, the flair of San Antonio’s signature River Walk makes an appearance at the hotel, with entertainers, face painters and mariachis

The Rowlett sisters now see those fight-provoking personality differences as assets.

“She is the most head-strong,” Brezic said.

Youle agreed. “I don’t take no for an answer,” she said.

Brezic said the differences don’t stop there.

“We have different styles, too. She’s more feminine. I like my jewelry more bold, more chunky,” Brezic said.

“And I like anything with bling-bling,” Youle said.

They credit their success, in part, to both of them having el ojo, which is Spanish for “the eye.”

“You have to have the eye,” Brezic said. “It’s not ugly, it is just different.”

While the women have shown items at several festivals, including GrapeFest, the opportunity to sell at the Gaylord Texan has given them a confidence boost, they said.

“Someone came up the other day and said, ‘I am wearing your stuff,’ ” said Brezic, who quit her sales job in January to concentrate on creating and selling the jewelry full time.

All the stones used in the pieces — from Australian crystal to various types of stones — are hand-picked by the sisters.

Having previously taken a beading class together, they use their own inspiration for the trinkets.

“Every Saturday at her house, it is time for sisters to get together,” said Youle, who is a probation officer.

Now, instead of a small Volkswagen, the sisters travel in a 2003 Yukon sport utility vehicle, which serves as the “wagon” in their business’ name.

The gypsy part of the name harks back to when they were young and would dress up in necklaces, bracelets and anklets — the more jewelry the better.

Their father always laughed at the adornments.

“He said, ‘You look like a bunch of gypsies,’ ” Youle said.