Jason Smith was born in Charleston and raised in Columbia, South Carolina, cities that combine long-standing traditions with the forward-thinking liveliness of a major university. As early as the third grade, Smith was driven by an abiding interest in the arts, with influences ranging from Max Beckmann, Martin Puryear and Constantin Brancusi. Jason attended the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington DC. In college Smith's focus shifted from two-dimensional media to sculpture and furniture design. It was here that his attention and energy were drawn to the essential conceptual and formal importance of craft.

After graduating from Corcoran in 1999, Jason traveled and worked in custom wood shops, learning traditional European woodworking techniques in New Orleans. In 2000 he settled in Atlanta to work with WelbornHenson, a design-build furniture studio. Jason’s attention was drawn to metalwork while collaborating on a WelbornHenson project with blacksmith and sculptor Andrew T. Crawford, whose firm he joined in 2001. An important, formative experience, two-and-a-half years at Andrew T. Crawford Ironworks gave Jason a glimpse of the workmanship and artistry possible in blacksmithing. In 2004 Smith moved to Calhoun Design and Metalworks. During his three years with Calhoun, Jason learned the concepts and techniques that make a larger high-end production blacksmith shop run successfully.

The completion of many large scale projects with Calhoun and his team made Smith realize that the time was right to found his own studio, Smithworks, in 2006. Today Smtihworks stands in Decatur GA, a place where Jason incorporates and pursues all of his artistic aspirations: to design and build custom ironwork, but also to draw, paint, and sculpt. At Smithworks, Jason explores media which enrich one another, bringing his work to the height of artistry in custom blacksmithing.