Fan Mail: Be Careful What You Wish For

I've been working in oil pastels for over a decade. And, in that time I have traveled across the country to juried art shows. I've advertised in national magazines and have been featured in regional ones. I've been represented by top-notch galleries. I do get "fan" mail from clients. And those emails, notes, phone calls and fb posts, I truly enjoy.

But, I received these drawings a couple of days ago, along with the cryptic note:

To Whom it May Concern Enclosed are
4 Images of Drawings. Sincerly, Roger Seria
Seria is a Country in the Middle East
Also Known as Oil Country and like Your Pastel.

(He also enclosed an email and phone number.) Although the name and return address on the envelope were totally different.

And, this is not the first one I have received. Generally, though, there is no email included because email contact is generally not allowed in PRISONS! Yep. I get letters on a regular basis from prisoners--(or used to). Usually, they tell me they like to draw and request permission to copy a piece they have seen in Southwest Art Magazine. They then proceed to say they can only work with pencil --nothing else is allowed. Kinda hard to copy a colorful oil pastel in pencil, I would say. I also had someone send me a picture of the house he had built, inviting me to come live with him and paint in his beautiful neck of the woods. So, after I figured out where these people were finding me and my work, I stopped putting my PO address in my ads. That seems to have worked. But there must be some old Southwest Arts lying around out there. All I can say is I am glad that I don't publish my physical address! I can only imagine what truly famous people have to go through.