For 21-year-old Wyckoff resident Ayala Levi, home is where the art is.

After finishing her college career at The State University of New York at New Paltz in upstate New York with dean’s list honors in each of her seven semesters, Levi said she is hoping to take her visual arts degree across the Atlantic to work in Israel — the country she left in her pre-teen years.

“I love to do a lot of Middle Eastern mosaics, and I think my inspiration comes from living there,” Levi said. “When I look for inspiration, I tend to think of Israel.”

After being born in the United States, Levi moved to Israel when she was about 3 years old before spending three years in the country and “falling in love” with it.

“I feel like I get a different kind of feeling when I’m there,” Levi said. “It relaxes me more; I prefer to paint when I’m like that and can be calm.”

Levi said her passion for painting has grown since she was a little girl working on oil paintings or sketches to more recent abstract watercolor pieces.

After graduating SUNY New Paltz a semester early, Levi said she stumbled upon an old binder full of sketches she had drawn in Israel, which had been sitting in her room for more than 15 years. The art was so moving and powerful that Levi decided to follow her passion and has set a goal to move back to the country within the next year.

“I feel like now that I have graduated and my education isn’t tying me down here, I should make concrete plans to go back,” Levi said. “I am going to try and save money and try living there for a year. If I like it after that, I could make it more permanent.”

While growing up in Bergen County, Levi pursued her artistic endeavors from a young age. After being accepted into Bergen County Academies' Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts and being put through a “rigorous” acceptance process, Levi said she was able to practice her abilities and hone her craft.

Before graduating SUNY New Paltz, Levi showcased her work in the college’s Fine Arts Building.

As for recent pieces she was particularly proud of, Levi said one oil painting came to mind that trickled down and influenced newer work. Levi said she was so proud of it, she decided to give it to her brother to hang in his new apartment.

Levi is no stranger to sentimentality. She was forced to make a decision with one of her more revered paintings recently when she was asked to sell it to an admiring collector. The painting was an oil interpretation of a photograph one of her roommates at SUNY New Paltz had taken of a flower.

“I couldn’t sell it,” Levi said. “It was one of the first paintings that I was truly proud of, when I moved off campus I had it hanging in my apartment, and the idea of not having it anymore was odd. I could have made something like $300 for it. I had put so much time and effort into it… I was attached to it.”

As for the future, Levi said she hopes to travel after attaining her goal and eventually getting to Israel, painting anything that inspires her to put a brush to a canvas. While leaving the east coast area will be tough, Levi said she wants to take the opportunity to leave while she is only responsible for herself.

“I’m young and if I don’t do it now, I won’t,” Levi said. “If I am on that side of the world already, it will be easier to travel and see everything I want to.”