A native Charlestonian, Alice Smith spent her entire life painting, promoting and writing about the Lowcountry. She learned her early painting skills at the Carolina Art Association Art School and was fortunate to be able to study the Japanese print and woodblock collection of her friend and distant cousin Motte Alston Read. She used the actual woodblocks to learn the technique, and read the seminal writings on Japanese prints in her cousin’s library. Smith was also greatly encouraged by visiting artists, such as Birge Harrison, Bertha Jacques, and Helen Hyde. Drawing upon these diverse influences, Smith created her own style in a variety of mediums that translated her love of nature and the Carolina Lowcountry.