Kumud Patel completed MA (Fine) in Painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M S University (1956) and later took Certificate in Pottery and Ceramics (1962). Her interest in pottery was triggered when she was working on a project for Parliament House, New Delhi in 1959, and saw a few potters working nearby. Her teachers in pottery when she did the Certificate Course were traditional potter, Puna Khima, Ira Chaudhuri and B K Barua. Since she studied Miniature style Painting for her under-graduation, she made some outstanding pottery work that she called ‘miniature pottery’ Though these works resembled ‘functional’ pottery, they were actually too small for any practical, functional use, barely three or four inches in height. Kumud Patel was highly skilled in decorating her miniature pots, figural pottery as well as designing ceramic jewellery. She taught pottery and ceramics at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M S University, Baroda, until her retirement in 1989.

Kumud Patel lived in Baroda.