Detroit News

Detroit News

Estimated printed pages: 3

January 18, 2006

Section: Neighborhood News

Page: 02Z

Artist shows skills on TV

Abilities to craft jewelry and handbags lead to distribution deal, HGTV spot for Westland woman.

The Detroit News

Mark Hicks

WESTLAND -- As a student at Wayne State University in the early 1990s, Kelly Darke never imagined she could earn a profit from her obsession: arty handiwork.

Darke taught herself how to craft jewelry and handbags while pursuing a bachelor's degree in fine arts. She continued indulging in the hobby --and painting -- while working at different jobs, occasionally showcasing her wares at art shows and selling pieces to friends.

Eventually the Westland resident and her husband, Vincent Cocciolone, launched a Web site for her work, which led to a distribution deal with Orchard Lake Framing & Gallery in West Bloomfield Township.

Now, Darke is a celebrity -- on Nov. 24, she was featured in the half-hour HGTV series "That's Clever!"

"It's really exciting," said Darke, 32. "For more people to recognize my work makes me want to continue."

Inspiration for the artist's most admired work -- crocheted jewelry -- emerged in the various metal shops she worked in while earning her degree, which included an emphasis on painting and metal working. For sketches on "something different," she said, Darke drew upon the torching and soldering processes, which occasionally yielded intricately linked units.

Darke continued developing the technique while painting oil paintings and gathering fabrics for handbags. By the late 1990s, she had amassed a series of vibrant abstracts and glittering tiaras, headbands and crocheted necklaces.

The burgeoning collection led to a meeting with Maureen Nolan, owner of Orchard Lake Framing & Gallery, which represents more than 50 artists in its 2,400-square-foot space. Nolan was instantly impressed with all of Darke's artwork but says she was awestruck with her crocheted jewelry. "I'd never seen anything like it."

Today, Darke is "one of our most popular artists," Nolan said. "She never ceases to amaze me with her creativity."

Darke's collection comprises squared, multitoned oil paintings, pearl-laden crocheted chokers, rose quartz headbands, tiara headbands and other headbands inlaid with garnets. The most time-consuming items are the handmade handbags -- some of which take days to create and boast cotton lining; feather accents; satin, wool, denim or leather bases; sterling silver crocheted panels or stainless steel washers.

That variety led her to HGTV, which advertised a search for artists to spotlight in "That's Clever." Darke completed the show's online application last spring; the producers contacted her almost immediately, and in June, a film crew entered her Westland studio to capture her habitat for a six-minute segment that aired last month.

"My first reaction was, 'You've got to be kidding,'" said Darke, who is expecting her second child next month. "I was so surprised -- it seemed surreal."

The artist's work was selected out of a pool of several hundred applicants "because of the originality in her work and her fun loving personality," said Amy Stark of Weller/Grossman Productions, which produces "That's Clever" and other HGTV series.

What cinched the deal, she said, was her silver crocheted handbag, which "is a very unique project that incorporates a variety of materials into a functional piece."

That functionality resonates with Darke's fans. Julie Krohta, a lawyer from Trenton, has purchased a peridot-spiked necklace and a brown, feather-adorned suede handbag sporting a hammered metal chain that can also function as a necklace.

"That's just mind-boggling," Krohta said.

"I wear it on special occasions ... People like to touch it -- they can tell it's homemade."

A metal-woven silver choker and matching bracelet transformed Debbie McCormick into a fan.

"I've told all of my friends and her," said the 57-year-old retiree from Grosse Pointe Park, who considers Darke's work "pretty and attractive. It's very distinctive -- not run-of-the-mill."

Kelly Darke

Who: Westland-based artist featured in a recent episode of HGTV's "That's Clever"

Where her work is featured: Orchard Lake Framing & Gallery, 4301 Orchard Lake Road #120, West Bloomfield Township

For information: Call (248) 538-9021 or go to www.kellydarke.com