Linda Karlsen
I am an artist living in Whitstable , my themes include the sea and landscape.
“I paint, I draw, always have done. My recent work has focused the exploits of Jeffrey Epstein in series of prints based on Hogarth’s Rake’s Progress”
After working as an Art teacher in London for thirty years, I retired and moved to Whitstable where I was able to do much more artwork. I have shown my work at the Horsebridge and Fishslab Gallery in Whitstable and at the Mall Galleries in London. I grew up in Warrington and started my art career at the local Art School when I was 14. I studied at Nottingham Art School and gained a First in Fine Art in 1971. I went on to Goldsmiths and completed an ATC. I studied for an MA in 1985 at the Institute of Education. My thesis was based on ‘The Rise of Design and the Demise of Fine Art’ In addition I produced several large scale etchings which were based on the impact of coal fired Power Stations in the landscape.
The medium of my work varies according to the original idea, and I mainly work with political themes. I often use Art Historical references in my work and recently completed a series of six drawings using Hogarth’s Rake’s Progress to illustrate the life, times and crimes of Jeffery Epstein.
I have given up on social media and encourage people to use my email address as a form of contact, wearartworks@icloud.com to find out more information about my work.
We are delighted to have Linda as part of our Contemporary Kent Artists exhibition at The Horsebridge Arts Gallery on the 8th - 20th of October 2025.
I wanted to record the changes in London’s skyline from the days when St Paul’s was the most significant landmark to the arrival of the Gherkin and more recently the Shard.
I chose eighteenth century paintings to depict the impact of modern office blocks on the cityscape. I completed a series of four called ‘Old Masters New Mistress’. In this one, I was able to stand in the exact position Canaletto stood by Somerset house to sketch and photograph the scene in the twenty first century.