Palm Beach — 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 September 2014, local artist Maike van Paridon is the boutique’s celebrated Caribbean Queen, showcasing her collection titled U Shell & Wood Sea in the store.
Maike van Paridon, who makes handcrafted decorations from Aruba, was born in the Netherlands, yet she has been living here for more than twelve years. She started creating decorations made of shells and driftwood about ten years ago.
Maike reports that she grew into a “handy girl” at an early age, having watched her father tinker around the family home.
That inherited creativity and resourcefulness was fueled even further by Maike’s admiration for shells and her love of the Aruban coastline with all its sun-bleached driftwood and other treasures.
She started creating shell photo frames & shell-framed mirrors as well as several driftwood decorations for local restaurants.
Based on the positive reactions to her craftsmanship and the originality of her products, as displayed at the restaurants and at local flea markets where she offered her handmade products for sale, Maike’s inspiration extended to also include decorative lamps, Christmas trees, whimsical ornaments, and much more.
Maike loves to personalize her creations by adding certain poetic texts, names, or lyrics, which she prints on the driftwood items of her customers’ choice!
Caribbean Queen boutique earmarks a percentage of all sales for its Tikkun Olam (Repair of the World) program. The collected funds are given quarterly to not-for-profit local 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 on the island and artisan education.
Enjoy these unique handcrafted Aruban art pieces by Maike van Paridon throughout the month of September.
