Joy Kirton Smith spent her early years in the Black Country near Stourbridge, where she was born. Her family later moved to the Worcestershire countryside, where she attended the local village school in Old Fleet on the banks of the river Severn. During this time her father and two elder brothers ran a family business in painting and decorating. This was a big influence to her as they were always adventurous in trying out new materials and innovative styles. Their influence in her informative years was significant in her subsequent attraction to art, with particular regard to the development of flux and backgrounds that are unique to her style of painting. Most of Joy’s paintings share the common theme of form and movement – her characters almost dancing from a background stage. These constructed backgrounds create the atmosphere from which her theatre emerges. Watercolour washes or sweeps of oil on canvas are the artistic technique she uses to create the stage – the characters painted and drawn out of this background.