I met Darnal M. Smith at the Yellow Green Farmers Market where he has a space – booth 134 – selling hand-crafted jewelry.

Every time I visited with him, or walked past his booth, I would feel peaceful and the energy around his space was really serene. Most of the time he would be sitting at his desk quietly working on his next piece of wearable art.

Darnal was born in Belleville, Florida and moved to New Jersey with his family as a child. I saw Darnal was very passionate about his work, so I wanted to know at which point in his life did he know that he wanted to be in this line of work.

To my surprise he said he was only 4 years old.

One day his dad took him and his younger brother to an amusement park. His dad was carrying his brother and holding his hand strolling around when they came up to a booth where an artist was creating beautiful art pieces. Darnal explained it was an awakening, he knew then that he wanted to be an artist.

Darnal was determined to learn all he could about his craft.
He studied both music and art while attending Art High School in New Jersey, Newark College of Fine Industrial Art and Pel College of Art and Architecture. After completing his studies, he worked as an architectural and electrical draftsman. His love and passion however was still art – painting, drawing, creating silkscreens and sculptures in wood and ceramic.

Fifteen years ago, when his wife’s mother became ill, they decided to move back to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to be closer to her. Darnal decided to sell his art work at Fairs and Festivals.

Another turning point in his life happened when he attended a Reggae Festival in Lake Worth, Florida bringing all his paintings with him. There was a huge storm with rain and wind. Most of his paintings were destroyed.

One day while visiting the Keys, he saw vendors and artists selling hand-crafted jewelry. He realized if he made and sold jewelry, he would not have to worry about the weather destroying his work.

It was a new beginning, a new phase in his career.

Darnal started creating hand-crafted jewelry. Each piece a work of art work.

He selects the material for his jewelry carefully. He believes gem stone, mineral, color has its own vibration and healing properties. He uses copper, silver and gold.

While in school he studied many world cultures. He was particularly enchanted by the Egyptians. He explained names are very important, each one having its own vibration. He researched the meaning of his name which means House of God.

He says his current line of jewelry was inspired by Queen Nefertiti. The Nefertiti collection consists of a collar, bracelet and a pair of earrings. Each set has a different color and base material combination, influenced by his clients.

Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010, Darnal created a Nefertiti Collection using the colors of the Haitian flag to help raise funds for Haiti which is available on the Boutique / Jewelry page of our website.