Jude Edgar grew up on the South coast of England, but has lived in North East Scotland for the past 30 years. She studied English and History of Art at Nottingham University (1973-76), and went on to a career in publishing, before working freelance as an author, specialising in writing about art history for young people and the general public. Her books include Monet, Impressionism and Looking at Paintings, Matisse and Chagall. She also contributed sections to several other guides to the history of art, including Art:the Definitive Visual Guide and The Illustrated Story of Art.

She was still writing about art when she began to focus more on her own painting in about 2010. Working mainly in her hillside garden studio, overlooking Findhorn Bay and the Moray Firth, she is particularly inspired by the spectacular landscapes and seascapes of her local area.

Her interest is not in producing a realistic image, but in creating an expressive response to what she sees. Working mainly in water-based media - acrylic and watercolour - she enjoys experimenting with different ways of painting the same motif. Fascinated by expressive mark-making, she builds up layers of paint, adds glazes of acrylic paint and ink, scratches through and scrapes back, and scribbles with crayon and pastel, flicking and dribbling fluid paint to enliven the surface. The shimmer of gold leaf, gold ink and metallic powder often features.

Jude won the George Spence Memorial Trophy in 2016. Her work is in private collections throughout the UK and around the world.