Yes. Saving to an image, loading the image, modifying the image while the program is running and seeing the program update without recompilation is part of the magic of programming in a good Lisp IDE.
Smalltalk was influenced by how Lisp used images and went on to build on the concept of images and do all the other things that make Smalltalk Smalltalk.
Various commercial Smalltalks have come and gone over the years. I am assuming you have been looking at either Squeak or Pharo. Both are nice, but the user interface is trapped inside of a windowing system inside of the environment you are executing in. A Pharo program will present a window and inside that window is another desktop environment. This seems unnatural to me, but it is the result of how Smalltalk works; it does everything. If you have the time, you can read about this in the Smalltalk-80 books.
LispWorks allows you to use the native widgets of the platform you are targeting. Your program will use native widgets. Clozure CCL (not Clojure) also has native widget support. Take a look at the OpusModus [1] composition program. It is written in Clozure CCL and is very polished, professional application.
It sounds like you already understand the philosophical differences between Lisp and Smalltalk. You can use an object system in Lisp, but it is option. Smalltalk is objects all the way down. Lisp can be molded to operate in variety of idioms, so you can create your own opinionated system, but one is not dictated for you.
Smalltalk was influenced by how Lisp used images and went on to build on the concept of images and do all the other things that make Smalltalk Smalltalk.
Various commercial Smalltalks have come and gone over the years. I am assuming you have been looking at either Squeak or Pharo. Both are nice, but the user interface is trapped inside of a windowing system inside of the environment you are executing in. A Pharo program will present a window and inside that window is another desktop environment. This seems unnatural to me, but it is the result of how Smalltalk works; it does everything. If you have the time, you can read about this in the Smalltalk-80 books.
LispWorks allows you to use the native widgets of the platform you are targeting. Your program will use native widgets. Clozure CCL (not Clojure) also has native widget support. Take a look at the OpusModus [1] composition program. It is written in Clozure CCL and is very polished, professional application.
It sounds like you already understand the philosophical differences between Lisp and Smalltalk. You can use an object system in Lisp, but it is option. Smalltalk is objects all the way down. Lisp can be molded to operate in variety of idioms, so you can create your own opinionated system, but one is not dictated for you.
[1] https://www.opusmodus.com/