Local Artist Annet van Doorm Is Caribbean Queen For April 2016

Each month, Caribbean Queen at Palm Beach Plaza Mall honors one local female artist who lives and creates here. The Caribbean Queen program was launched when the store opened in late 2011, and has been running successfully ever since.

For the month of April 2016, local artist Annet van Doorm is the boutique's celebrated Caribbean Queen, showcasing her unique painting. 

Born in the Netherlands, Annet has lived in Curacao and now in Aruba for over a decade. Her passion for fashion at a young age inspired her educational choices, going to fashion school first and later transitioning into teaching of design and sewing skills in her own fashion school just before following her husband, a Dutch military man, to the islands.

Annet practices a multitude of other artistic disciplines as well, including portrait and model painting, and in Curacao she took a two-year course using acrylic paints, which she enjoyed tremendously. Her paintings found their way into local stores there, and were very popular in the tourist market. Annet’s big dream is to one day have enough finished artwork to curate a full-scale show in one of the local galleries on Aruba.

“My mother is my inspiration,” explains Annet. “She was very talented, and drew and painted well. Her creativity inspired my creativity.” She adds, “Everything I see around me ignites my desire to paint; consequently, I am always busy creating my own art and painting projects.”

As an artist and an art teacher, Annet gives intense painting courses, three times a year, organized in cycles of eight consecutive weeks. She also teaches Body Pump and Pilates in her spare time.

Caribbean Queen earmarks a percentage of all sales for its Tikkun Olam (Repair of the World) program. The collected funds are given quarterly to local not-for-profit organizations in an ongoing effort to do good and serve the community. All the foundations served with donations from Caribbean Queen are dedicated to the promotion of art and artisan education on the island.

Enjoy these unique paintings by Annet throughout the month of April, and drop in to witness a live demonstration of her craft at the boutique on the third Thursday of the month in the evening hours.