Born in New York to an American mother and a Scottish father (from Lanark), the artist studied in the US, Germany and England. Her mother was the artist Nina May WEIR-LEWIS, who died and was buried in Lelant, Cornwall just before WWII. Helen had one sister, and the two children were brought to Europe by their mother after their father died.
As an adult, she was permanently based in London but kept Rose Lodge Studio in St Ives and stayed at St Ives Bay Hotel during summers.

Helen worked in clay and bronze, with a particular interest in reflections and textures. She was also an occasional exhibitor of ceramics (Lanhams 1913). At the 1915 Show Day she exhibited a clay model of a rose bowl, which was complimented. Independent financially, Helen was well-liked in St Ives circles and was a good friend of the LANYON family.

In 1933, she took over as Acting President of the Society of Women Artists from Dorothea SHARP.