Jennifer Smith was born in England, but immigrated to
Canada with her parents at an early age. She initially
intended to have a career in science or medicine,
but after obtaining a bachelor degree in biology
realized that her heart lay in the visual arts.
She studied painting, printmaking, photography and
animation at Instituto Allende in San Miguel Allende,
Mexico, Banff School of Fine Arts, Cooper Union in
New York, and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design,
graduating with a B.F.A. from the Nova Scotia College,
now called NSCAD University. After travelling and working
extensively in Europe for several years, she returned
to Canada and obtained a graduate degree in architecture
from UBC in Vancouver.
For the last twenty years, Jennifer has lived in
the Kootenay region of B.C. painting in oil on canvas
and breeding exotic parrots. A lifetime of skiing,
hiking, climbing and paddling in many parts of
North and Central America provides rich subject matter
for her paintings.