Often the people and cultures of Appalachia have been incorrectly portrayed. So many times the "mountain people" are depicted by those from outside the cultures in such a way as to perpetuate an out-dated and misunderstood stereo-type. The south, rural Appalachia and Native American communities are  often portrayed as poverty-stricken, drug-infested and broke. 

Darlene's works blend her heritage and talent to show the world a different South, a different Appalachia, a different Indigenous America,  the Appalachia where mist rises over the Cumberland Falls or a sunset paints the Smokey Mountains pink and gold, a South where light dances on the glass surface of Green River Lake, sparkling like pixie dust, and an Indigenous America where a young woman greets the mornings with songs of her ancestors and goes through her days full of power, poetry and hope.. Darlene portrays Southern Appalachia alive, like a "woman," beautiful, strong, sexy, earthy and elegant. She paints with oils and with words. 

            "This is a poet with a deep sense of not only nature but spirit. She brings rich native tradition into play...in language that is strict and pure....This poet understand the relationship...between word and thing."  Jay Parini