Smith grew up in a poor family of sharecroppers. Because she had to start working as a child, she received only minimal education. She spent many years working as a farmhand, and later also as a servant. Both her marriages were childless and of short duration. When she retired in 1975, she moved into a little house on a property that had been purchased for her by the father of her illegitimate son. Here, she set up a studio and an outdoor gallery. On wooden panels or pieces of metal, she painted portraits of friends and neighbors, allegorical figures and Biblical scenes, sometimes with words or symbols that expressed her profound faith in and love for God.
SMITH mary t.
