J. Cruse Christmas Gallery

served by American Bank of Commerce. One of my favorite parts of the holidays is the food, especially when it comes to those recipes that your family's just had for generations. Irish AI Day actually spoke with a master chef and cake artist who was taking Christmas food to a new level by sharing the story of Christmas with the nation. The thing for me is biblically based because of the fact that Christmas is about Jesus and what's going on in the world. Well, Christmas is a time to escape. Jackie Cruz, or J. Cruz, as many call him, is a one of a kind master chef, master cake artist, designer, sculptor. The list goes on. But during our conversation, I realized he's also a witness and testament to what can happen when you allow your gifts to be shared with the world. I was already dabbling in cake decorating in high school. I had a little cake business on the side. So I had a little bit of entrepreneur in my heart. And then I got accepted to chef school in Vermont, Perry, Vermont. He was one of 56 students chosen out of 150,000 applicants, all eager to attend the New England Culinary Institute. Never been on a plane, never been out of the state of Texas. And here I am, a little Texas boy going to live in Vermont for two years. And I grew up and learned a lot. And it was his love of Christmas that would take him in a slightly different direction, using his gift of hand sculpting to design his first Santa Claus. I was introduced into making Santas when I went to the World Trade Center someone about mass production. And they showed me Santas and said, you should do this. And of course, my heart was And so I come back and sculpted my first Santa within a year. I was in Neiman Marcus Christmas Book. All I tell people a lot of times is it's got to face is something that they connect to that becomes more of an art piece, something His journey back home to post-Texas allowed him to interject a bit of West Texas flair into his creations. But it also opened the door to his gallery, designed by none other than himself and masterfully planned to give every guest an escape from the stresses of life. When you can set a store such as a Christmas store, it brings joy. And it's almost just that for that moment, a place of escape. With such a focus on helping others, it made me wonder, what would his escape be? Always, always, it'll be creativity. I find my joy in being creative. This character that you're creating becomes alive to you. And only to you, you sell it to other people, but it becomes alive to you. I don't know how to explain it and see these little cute characters come out. And they're almost talking to you. And you're kind of having dialogue back with them. It's a little crazy, but it does happen. It's crazy something that makes somebody smile, something beautiful. And so that's what I enjoy. That's what makes me who I am. Reporting for KLBK News, I'm Rachea Day. That's beautiful, very talented. All right, we'll be right back.