Vanessa Lambe (later Vanessa Smith) studied at the South Australian School of Arts and Crafts in the Exhibition building on North Terrace, Adelaide, in the 1930s. At the time she was the youngest student to win a scholarship to the school. From here she gained employment with the firm of Clarkson Limited in Rundle Street, where she used her training to draw designs for windows and learned the art of stained glass window making under Nora Burden. Clarkson Ltd. was the only maker of 'figure' windows in South Australia, and created windows for many churches around the state. Vanessa Smith's windows are in more than 50 buildings around the city, including St. Mary Magdalene's Anglican Church in Moore Street.