About Helene Lund Den Boer

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I am originally from Denmark, but since 1996 I have lived outside my home country. In the UK, various places in the United States, and for a couple of years, on the tropical island of Guam.

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After our fair share of moving for work and adventure, my husband and I settled in Hendersonville, North Carolina, with our daughter and soon enough, two Boston terriers joined our family.

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Creating has always been in my blood. Mostly by drawing and painting, and always in a figurative form. Storytelling has been my main focus and interest from the very beginning.

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Over the years, I have gone through pencils, charcoal, oil paint, acrylic paint and collage. Recently my focus has turned to fabric. This happened soon after we moved to the Appalachian Mountains. I don’t think there’s necessarily a connection. Just simply a new environment and different surroundings, which pushed my work in a new direction. This has been a clear tendency, with every move to a new place in the world.

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I go through hours of podcasts and audio books in my studio. Sketching, thinking and sewing. Pencils, needles, scissor and eraser. Deciding on just that perfect fabric for the specific piece. My Singer sewing machine purring, a cup of Earl Grey tea by my side, my dogs snoring in their basket, or playing by my feet.

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Basically, I work with two different styles within textile: larger, machine sewn pieces that have some simplicity to them.

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Then, during the pandemic, my daughter and I went to Denmark for a few months, and without my sewing machine, I had to work and think a little differently.

That became the beginning of my hand embroidered portraits. These are a mixture of embroidery, appliqué and color pencils/acrylics and provide plenty room for  experimentation with materials and new opportunities.

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I’m always hunting for stories to tell, for great motives, interesting narratives and just the right color and texture combinations. I enjoy the hunt immensely, it’s always a glorious moment when idea, motive and fabric come together.

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Thank you for your interest, and for visiting my website.