East Kent Artists’ Open Houses ’25
This weekend marked my first time taking part in the Ramsgate Trail, and while I haven’t had a flood of visitors through the door, I’ve truly appreciated the lovely conversations and connections I’ve made. It’s been a learning curve in many ways — especially around how best to present and promote my work — but I’m grateful for the experience and the inspiration I’ve drawn from fellow artists, educators and appreciators.
Looking back, I realise there are a few things I’d do differently. Seeing how others have introduced themselves and their practice has made me reflect on my own approach. Next time, I’d focus more on sharing my background and artistic discipline, rather than relying solely on an image description. While the featured image is a painting, my work spans multiple mediums including printmaking — and most of those pieces aren’t on the website, as they’ve already been professionally glazed and I’d prefer not to dismantle them.
Since I’ve committed to the full schedule this year, I’ll be staying put for the remaining weekends — but next year, I might take a weekend off to explore the incredible creativity across East Kent. With 118 galleries and studios open in places like Canterbury, Broadstairs, Deal, Faversham, Herne Bay, Margate — and Sheppey joining for the first time — there’s so much to discover and celebrate.
I had imagined welcoming visitors with a cup of tea and a chat, but many seemed to be on tight schedules. So, for next weekend, I’m planning a few tweaks: raising some artworks to eye level, printing a price list for clarity, and adding a label to my door buzzer to help guests feel confident they’ve found the right place.
To everyone who stopped by — thank you. Your presence made this first weekend feel truly special. I’m looking forward to welcoming more visitors in the weekends ahead and seeing where this journey takes me.
A big thank you to the EKAOH’25 organisers and to local representative, Gem Blastock.
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