Born in Shiraz, Iran in 1970, Helen Zarin can remember beginning to paint pictures as early as the age of five.

As a high school student, she studied with the well-known Persian artist and teacher, Saber. Later she enrolled in the Art and Culture Society, a national organization for gifted Persian artists. As a student of Art and Culture, she refined her skills in pastels and oil, at the same time earning a number of national awards.

In addition to her art, Helen competed as an athlete in numerous track and field events throughout the early 1980's, winning 11 medals in all.

Conditions in her native country eventually compelled Helen to turn elsewhere for the creative nourishment an artist needs. "Hard work and God given talent are not enough for an artist to progress and blossom," she remarks. "Creative freedom in the right atmosphere is essential." In the pursuit of these artistic prerequisites, she journeyed first to Europe and finally to the United States, where she now lives and works.