Judith Cain

Judith Cain was born in York in 1944. Having studied painting at Leeds College of Art, from 1960 to 1964, she went on to do a further year at Goldsmiths College, London University in 1965. In 1985, Judy accepted the post of Painting Co-ordinator in the Fine Art Department at Leeds Metropolitan University, where she worked, until her retirement in 2006.

Paintings made during the last ten years have been fuelled by research trips to Northern India, Japan, Bhutan, and most recently to South Africa.  Travel to these differing cultures has inspired four very distinctive bodies of work.  Whilst the interest in landscape, nature and plants is always evident in the paintings; colour, pattern and a close observation of traditional textile and other crafts together with a sense of cultural history have taken on increasingly significant roles in the development of ideas.

Judy has exhibited worldwide, and in 2004, was invited by the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, London, to exhibit paintings that explored the flora & landscape of Kazakhstan.  This was followed by a touring exhibition of this work to municipal galleries, including Leeds City Art Gallery. In 2008, Judy was commissioned to design 10 floor pieces for the new radiotherapy reception area of St James Hospital in Leeds, accompanied by a series of ten related paintings.  The work is an integral part of the feeling of healing and rehabilitation in that wing of the hospital.

Judy has won numerous awards, most recently The Discerning Eye in 2010, as the Northern Regional Prizewinner. Her work can be found in Public, Private and Corporate Collections worldwide.

Judy Cain has been exhibiting with Thackeray Gallery since 1991.