Helen Saunders (pronounced "Saːnders") was born in Bedford Park, Ealing, London. She studied at the Slade School of Art in 1907, attending three days a week till the Spring term. She later attended the Central School of Arts and Crafts which offered more technical training than the Slade. By 1912 Saunders' work had become "recognisably Post Impressionist", and in February her painting "Rocks, North Devon" was accepted by The Friday Club (an exhibiting group set up by Vanessa Bell). She exhibited works at Galerie Barbazanges and at the Allied Artists Association.