Helen Hanson taught Languages before becoming a professional artist. She is a member of the Society of Botanical Artists, the Society of Women Artists, Greenwich Printmakers and South Bank Printmakers.

Her main work consists of contemporary landscape etchings, ranging from the Fens to the Scottish Highlands. These explore pattern, texture and mood through a series of related images from a particular area. Water is a recurrent theme and the varied flora of wetlands and coastline are a constant source of inspiration. She has recently moved to the coast and works from her light, bright studio by the sea.