Education:

1948-1952: Diploma, Painting, Faculty of Fine Art, MSU

Diploma in Dramatics, Certificate in Puppetry Craft and Creative Drama

1960-1962: Certificate in Pottery and Ceramics

Teaching period: 1964: Incharge, Ceramic and Pottery Department

1984-86: Reader in Pottery and Ceramics Department, Faculty of Fine Art, MSU

History:

"The elegance and unique intricacies of miniature paintings fascinates me"

Kumud Patel was the first painting student to dismiss the miniature style of painting in order to focus solely on pottery. She refined her throwing skills, creating a large body of glazed utilitarian earthenware before branching out into the creation of stoneware miniature pots that explored the concept of a vessel.

She was one of the first students to enroll in the newly established Faculty of Fine Arts. Puna Khima, Ira Chaudhuri, and B K Barua were her traditional pottery instructors when she took the Certificate Course. She created some excellent ceramic pieces that she referred to as "miniature pottery" because she studied miniature style painting during her undergraduate degree. Although these pieces resembled "functional" pottery, they were just three or four inches tall, making them insufficient for any useful, practical usage. She possessed exceptional decorative skills for her miniature pots, figural pottery, and ceramic jewelry.

She received many awards and honors such as Gujarat State Prizes for pottery and ceramics, Travelling grant by UGC among others. She received the President Kawasji Jahangir Prize, Bombay Art Society in 1956, Gold Medal in Indian Sculptors association competition of All India Sculpture, Best exhibit prize for Kalidas Jayanti Samaroh, Ujjain in 1958, 1st Prize and Tamrapatra, Bombay State Art Exhibition in 1960. International participation in Art camps, workshops and group shows at Malaya, Japan, Australia sponsored by Lalit Kala Akademi in 1957, at Sao Paolo in 1968, 1st Triennale, India in 1971.