Please tell me it’s not fake. I just got this message on Instagram:
Hi John-Paul! My name is (redacted) – I live in New York and was recently on vacation in London with my fiancé. We took a day trip to Hampstead and happened to stumble upon the Burgh House, where I came across your work. I just wanted to tell you how much I loved it! I don’t know much about art, but your work immediately caught my attention. I’d genuinely never seen anything quite like it before – it was so distinctive, original, and full of personality. It really caught my attention and ended up being such a memorable part of our day. Just wanted to reach out and tell you how awesome I thought it was!
I replied, saying how welcome the message was, and that I was sorry to have missed her. But having read it a couple of times, I fear it must be fake. The account is private. Which proves nothing obvs. Oh dear.
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UPDATE, a few hours later, my reply got a reply:
Of course! I’m so glad I reached out. Your work really stuck with me even after we got back to New York. Would’ve been so nice to meet you, but I’m just glad we happened to stumble in that day!
What next?
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UPDATE, days later. No further messages. Perhaps the message was legit, and my suspicions were baseless…?