Helen Bar-Lev was born in New York in 1942, living in Israel for 33 years, now in Jerusalem.  She is a watercolour artist who has had over 75 exhibitions around the globe.   She studied art at the Cooper Union in New York and  in Israel with Professor Yosef Hirsch, in whose memory she curated an exhibition of 53 of his students, which was exhibited in three prestigious venues during 2002-2003.  Until 2003 Bar-Lev painted almost exclusively landscapes of Israel, but then she was offered an exhibition at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo (March-June 2004) and painted many of the animals residing at the Zoo. She published a children’s book entitled: Animals are Nature’s Poetry, which contains her paintings and poems.

In 2003 she participated in the Lion’s Project for the Municipality of Jerusalem, painting two life-size lions which were exhibited in the streets of Jerusalem.  This year she had the honour of being invited to the US Ambassador’s residence (one of four artists) to display her paintings during the 4th of July celebrations.

Poetry is a more recent and persistent endeavour.  Her Poetry has been featured on many websites.  At the moment she is illustrating a book of Poetry by Johnmichael Simon, and there are plans for more Poetry books in the future.  Bar-Lev is a member of the Israel Artists’ and Sculptors’ Association and of the Voices Israel Poetry Society.

Website:  www.helenbarlev.com