About Judith

Judith Shaw

Artist's Statement

As a young girl, seeing old oak trees with moss hanging and sun glistening on the grass evoked deep feelings of connection to the cosmos. I longed to lie on the bright grass, embrace the earth and feel time disappear. This same feeling surges up in me as I paint. Brushing yellow gold on top of deep crimson, I sense the paints coming alive, even as I feel myself moving outside of ego, outside of time, and inside to my deepest source.

It is this experience, and my desire to express the belief that our bodies and souls are one whole within an interconnected web of life, which keeps me returning to my studio. My inspirations entwine the ancient wisdoms of many cultures with the deep beauty of the natural world.

I walk into my studio alive with a sense of wonder at the unknown. Ancient ideas and symbols, myth and story, nature, humans and animals,  all merge through the process of painting - mysteriously emerging as a painting.

My Story

I've loved painting and drawing since I was a young child.  I flirted with the Performing Arts and with music but finally settled on painting in my 2nd year at college.

I graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1984, with a BFA in painting. Life has taken me to many places and given me many experiences since then but the one constant is my continuing desire to paint. Yet in recent years I discovered that I love writing and research - especially about myth and legend - almost as much as I love painting. Now my paintings are often married - so to speak -  to stories.