Judith Stroud

“It is a pleasure to take part in the first ever Mini Print Wales project. It is a great idea for printmaking in Wales and for Swansea Print Workshop to be setting the pattern for more printmakers in future years.”

Judith Stroud is an accomplished artist and printmaker living in Wales. Born in England, she spent her early years in Africa before returning to Britain to complete her Fine Art Degree at the West of England College of Art, Bristol. After further travels in Africa, working as a secondary school teacher in Ghana, she made her move to the Welsh coast, pursuing a two-decade career as an art teacher in secondary schools across South Wales. Now retired from full-time teaching, Judith concentrates on her own artistic interests, in particular her love of printmaking. 

Her printmaking practice is heavily influenced by the forms and energies of the natural world. Living in Wales, its landscape is a lasting fascination for her, and its flora and fauna can be seen represented throughout her work. Her embrace of various print techniques and materials shape and form the pieces she creates. Whether intaglio, collagraph, monotype or relief, each process offers her a new approach, leading to many changes and contrasts in her work. 

One of Judith’s preferred materials for relief printing is Japanese vinyl, a versatile modern substitute to the lino print medium. Vinyl is particularly suitable for making small prints, as it can accept very fine detail with great precision and without any risk of crumbling and cracking, which can happen when carving traditional lino. Japanese vinyl is a very stable, long-lasting and reliable material, meaning that, even when cut up and re-assembled, its pieces retain their integrity for printing editions. It is this style of jig-sawing pieces together that can be seen in the prints “Aloe”, “Echinopsis” and “Stapelia” and is a key learning outcome from the workshops she will provide as part of Mini Print Wales. 

Judith is a member, director and volunteer at Swansea Print Workshop, as well as being a member of Aberystwyth Printmakers. Her original prints are in many private and public collections, with some of her recent exhibitions including Of Foresters, Farmers and Fish International Print Exchange Aberystwyth Printmakers 2021-22 and RCA Conwy – Open Exhibition 2021. In addition to this, Judith has produced several cover illustrations including Rhyd Y Gro by Sian Northey (Gomer Press) and The Station Road Sewing Circle, recently published short stories by Lou Lewis (Cambria Books).