Her parents, Margaret Mackenzie (née Lindsay) and architect Edwin Evan Smith, were both born in Scotland.

[1] Her father was president of the Queensland Art Society in the 1920s before moving to Melbourne where he was principal architect with the Victorian Public Works Department.

[2] Smith studied art with Max Meldrum and also attended Brisbane Central Technical College, where she was taught by Lewis Jarvis Harvey.

[14] While away, she was taught by sculptor Alexander Carrick and landscape artist William George Gillies at the Edinburgh College of Art.

When the partnership ended in 1956, Smith was joined by a series of co-directors, Mary Killen (1956–1976), Penny Meagher (1966–1972) and finally Eileen Chanin (1976–1979).