What Are The Odds?

There we were, minding our own business, when Patrick spied a man and a woman with birds just off the Santa Fe Plaza. Patrick loves birds so of course he had to go over for a closer look. After looking the birds over and talking to the people who were from the Wild Life Federation, he asked if he could take some pictures.

I was standing back next to a lady who was also intent in watching and asking questions. You can see her (to the right of the bird’s talons and up) in this photo.

Patrick took his shots and left a donation in the pail. At that point, the lady lamented that she did not have a camera with her and asked if Patrick would e-mail his shots to her if she gave him her e-mail address. He agreed and she started across the street to get him her business card.

Since we were going the same direction, we followed her. It turned out that she was an artist who had a booth just outside a large hotel. As we approached, she said to Patrick, “I’m going to give you a gift.” We both assumed that it would be a small print of one of her works or note cards. But she put out two full size prints and told him to take his pick. He made his selection and she signed the print “To Patrick, Amy Stein.

 Patrick's Selection:  Angel of The Roses

Amy Stein’s bio from her web site is as follows:
AMY STEIN, an award-winning Santa Fe artist, well-known for her beautiful prints of the southwest, has been profiled in the nationally published American Artist magazine. She has conducted self-imagery workshops "Healing the Self Through Self- Portraits" for the California-based American Institute of Medical Education, the Institute for Integral Development in Colorado Springs and the Santa Fe public schools. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the City University of New York and is a licensed New Mexico art teacher. Ms. Stein has been an Artist-in-Residence in New Mexico and accepts artistic portraits commissions.

After a nice visit, we left with her card, Patrick’s new piece of art and a promise to send her the photos as soon as we returned home.

We continued our exploring of the Plaza, had a delightful chicken, green chili, pinon nut and asiago cheese pizza at one of our annual stops, Roof Top Pizza, and returned to our hotel.

We were each sitting on our bed chatting about the day and planning for the next one. Patrick got a strange look on his face and said, “What was that artist’s name?” I responded Amy Stein. He said, “That’s what I thought but I’m not believing this”. I couldn’t imagine what he was talking about other than her generosity in having gifted him with a wonderful print. I asked what he meant and he told me to look behind me. I did.

Can you imagine our amazement to find the work of an artist we chanced to meet on the street, promised photos, and was gifted by on our hotel room wall? There it was. As plain as day. What are the odds?

Little Yellow Flower 

We took this picture of her work on our wall and determined we had to share the story with her.

The next day, we went back to Amy’s booth to share this “against all odds story” with her.

She was as amazed as we had been. I asked if she had prints like the one in our hotel available as I wanted a copy to complete the story of this amazing encounter. She did and I purchased one.

We plan to frame and hang the two works side by side not only because she is a gifted artists doing wonderful work but as a reminder of that special day and how people are brought together in the most mysterious ways.