With a British Council grant, Carmen left Paris bound for England and the renowned Slade School of Art, part of the University of London. There she was under the tutalege of Anthony Gross, one of the UKs most celebrated artists of the time, with whom she became great friends.
Carmen was no stranger to London, having already had an exhibition in the library of the Institute of Contemporary Art (then Dover Street), in 1963, through a chance meeting on the stairs with the ICAs Founder, Sir Ronald Penrose.
Carmen did not know at this time that London would become her home.