Helen Hobden’s
Story
Do you remember when you were young and you discovered a book, a television show or a film you deeply resonated with? For me there were three things:
• The Faraway Tree books by Enid Blyton.
• The Flower Fairy poems and illustrations by Cicely Mary Barker
• and a 1970’s Cinderella movie called The Slipper and the Rose.
(There’s quite an obvious theme happening here!) I didn’t know what the word meant at the time, but they filled me up with inspiration, and that has never left me. I hope to capture some of that enchanted feeling in my paintings.
When I’m not creating ethereal art, I might be making sustainable unique clothing for Threads of a Fairytale (Do you like the dresses the figures are wearing in my paintings? Well you can buy them here!). Or I might be hiding at the end of the garden writing a novel that one day might eventually get finished!
If you’d like to get to know me better, I did the classic introvert thing for connection and decided to share my creative kind-of-life on YouTube!
“My art is a dance between realism, abstract and fairytale.”
Helen Hobden feels far too awkward to write a bio in third person. So…
I am lucky enough to have a home studio looking out onto the magical Somerset (UK) countryside (I can even see Glastonbury Tor if I stand on one leg at a particular angle!). I have had a young adult novel published by Andersen Press at Random House, but since moving here from Tonbridge, my creative career has moved in the direction of making one-of-a-kind clothing inspired by stories, adventure and fairies. A highlight was a sunrise photo-shoot of a wedding dress on the banks of the Grand Canal in Venice.
I have now returned to painting, something I’ve loved since a child, when I looked forward to my new sketchbook from Father Christmas every year! I am a graduate of the highly regarded Mastery Programme by the Milan Art Institute. I’m often adventuring out in the wild with my sketchbook, and as photography has been a hobby for a very long time, I have plenty of reference material to use for my art. I love experimenting with a variety of materials for layers of beautiful colours and visual textures, and enjoy combining abstract backgrounds with realistic subjects. I am self-represented, selling art across the world, and sometimes take part in gallery shows.
I hope viewers of my paintings feel a sense of recognition of a magical place or story that they once knew either in real life or in their imagination.
