CAOS 2023

Carshalton Artists Open Studios 2023

24th and 25th June - 1st and 2nd of July

My first CAOS went very well : )

Having moved here not so long ago, it was a great way to launch myself into the community of local artists. Carshalton is beautiful place (South East London) to live and has a very creative community of people living here. A lot of them are members of CAOS and are very aware of the important role that CAOS plays in Carshalton and the surrounding areas, especially during open studios.

I opened my doors across a couple of weekends and invited well over 100 groups of people and individuals into my home to look at my work. It was such an uplifting experience, people looked at the pieces of my work I had carefully selected to display and gave some amazing feedback - full of encouragement and praise.

Although the days were long, when I closed my doors at the end of each day and read some of the amazing feedback - it revived me and left me feeling uplifted. So many kind and encouraging comments and an open appreciation for my work from so many of my visitors. Thank you everyone, to those that left beautiful comments and feedback and those that also extended their praise in person on each day and some that came back again the last weekend for another look : )

Neighbours and friends, locals and people from across London came to take a look, families and other artists enjoyed this trail of 60 artists and it was great to be a part of. I sold lots of cards and prints of my work, but CAOS is so much more than that. Its an opportunity to be brave and share your work with strangers - opening yourself up to their comments and enjoying that feeling of success at the end of each day.

Thank you for everyone that stopped by over the two weekends and a few for coming back again on the second weekend after their visit over the first weekend, I look forward to welcoming you at next years CAOS with some of my newer work.

A final thank you must go the the organisers for their encouragement and warm welcome. Thanks also to Danielle and Steve for lending their support over the first weekend, I am forever grateful for your help with the initial layout and set up Danielle #blessed (I received lots of compliments on my layout throughout CAOS) #stylequeen xxx

If you’re a local artist - I would recommend applying for CAOS 2024. It may seem a little daunting at first, its hard work setting up initially and getting everything together, but certainly worth it.

Someone recently told me that I’m a very confident person - it made me pause and reflect as that is not how I see myself. I am confident in my ability to do the things I love including photography and I would say that self believe is everything and spurs you on to challenge yourself when you need to and to open your self up to trying new things. CAOS was a challenge for me initially and doubts did creep in, but I did it with encouragement from my closest and it was a success. A much better feeling to cherish and remember than the regret that I would have felt had I not pushed on, ignoring those niggling doubts. Its okay to doubt yourself occasionally - I know that I do, but its very important to not let that stop you doing the things you love and the things you do well !

Sharing a few pics of my home studio set up for each day below.