Judy Gale Roberts remembers growing up in a creative environment encouraged by her parents, both artists. In the late 1970s she began working alongside her father, Pat Dudley Roberts. He worked in a variety of different medias-from oil paintings to sculpture, mostly creating project specific works for architects or interior designers. One project in particular was for a large atrium in a commercial building. Because the building had used natural wood throughout, Pat Roberts designed large Texas wildflowers made of wood. The pieces varied in size from 2-4 feet in diameter, and were highly dimensional and beautiful.

Judy is widely recognized as the driving force behind the revival of intarsia as a popular art form. She is largely responsible for reviving intarsia from the 15th century and leading its international resurgence. Judy began creating intarsia pieces in the 1970s and has been inducted into WOOD magazine’s Woodworking Hall of Fame. She is co-author of several intarsia books, including Wildlife Intarsia; Intarsia Workbook; Easy to Make Inlay Wood Projects Intarsia; Intarsia Artistry in Wood; and Small Intarsia. Judy teaches intarsia classes at her studio in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, and presents intarsia seminars throughout the country.