Joalida Smit was born in Cape Town. She trained as a Clinical Psychologist in South Africa and a Neuropsychologist in London, UK. She worked in the NHS for nearly 20 years, managing a cancer survivorship service. In December 2019 she relocated with her family to Lake Forest, Illinois, two weeks before COVID lockdown. 

She started painting after a 20 year hiatus to cope with the isolation. She had her sold- out, debut, solo show of large oil on canvas flowers at The Gallery in Lake Forest in 2023. Since then she has pivoted to full-time artist with a studio at The Gorton Center where she runs teen and adult art classes. She is currently working on a “Finding my Joy” series of paper works that will be on display at the Lake Bluff Art Fair on 15 & 16 June and the Art Fair on the Square 1 & 2 September in Lake Forest Illinois.

These pickle ball paddles were inspired by this series called ‘pots of flowers’. Small prints of the Larter artworks were cut, pasted and re-imagined with imitation gold leaf and then resined.

Joalida lives in Lake Forest with her husband, two boys, a dog and some other critters. She paints forests, flowers and shoes.

A full collection of work can be viewed on her website: www.joalidasmit.com