Gray Smith (13 February 1919 – 7 August 1990) was an Australian artist, poet and jeweller who was part of the Heide Circle.

[citation needed] He left Melbourne in 1939 to become a timber cutter in North Drummond, Victoria, sparking a life-long interest in the Australian bush and its folklore.

[2]: 116 In 1943 he returned to Melbourne to study with the well-known artist and teacher Max Meldrum and to work in the family picture-framing shop.

[11]: 55–58 After about a year, they returned to Melbourne, settling in Hurstbridge, then later moved to Box Hill where they could easier access medical treatment as Hester had Hodgkin lymphoma and Smith continued to struggle with epilepsy.

[4]: 311  During this time in the country, Smith refined his solitary man in the bush motif drawing on his love of Australian myths and legends.

As artist and critic Geoffrey de Groen put it, “Gray Smith's paintings are powerful expressions of the work ethic, and in particular, the man on the land.

His paintings heighten the drama of ordinary situations.”[12] Joy Hester's time with Smith (1947–1960) was her most productive when she produced the acclaimed series Faces, Love, and Sleep.

[13] Smith and Hester lived a tumultuous yet on balance a happy life together, practising their art until Joy's death in 1960 from Hodgkin lymphoma.

[5] Gray and Joan Upward (née Davis) began a relationship, bringing their families together in Box Hill, Melbourne.