Jenny Lyn Smith

Award winning Alaskan artist Jenny Lyn Smith is regarded by many as one of the Northwest’s best carvers of wood and silver in the totemic tradition.

Jenny Lyn came to Alaska in 1967 as a talented artist fresh out of high school with a burning desire to carve a totem pole.  And carve she did, spending five years learning her craft at Alaska Indian Arts in Haines under the tutelage of noted carvers Leo Jacobs Sr., John Hagen, Johnny Avatock and Alaska Native Master Carver Nathan Jackson.

Jenny Lyn’s totems are now in private and public collections from Asia to Scandinavia.  Her woodcarvings grace the Delta Airlines pavilion in Los Angeles and the Alaska Marine Highway terminal in Seattle.

Jenny Lyn’s Northwest Indian style silver jewelry is recognized as the finest of its kind for both the quality of the artwork and her excellent craftsmanship.  Jenny Lyn creates her own designs within the Alaska Native tradition.  She works closely with the Tlingit community and was honored with an adoption into the Raven clan by the late Lillian Hammond in 1977.

With her husband Bruce Smith, she raised three children and is now a proud grandmother.  A homebody at heart, Jenny Lyn preferred to do most of her designing, carving, and silk screening at her own kitchen counter. Now, Jenny spends her winters quilting and her summers golfing the Valley of the Eagles Golf Links, Haines, Alaska.