Page 26 - MIN TTC - AUG 10,2015

Local Artist EACH month, Caribbean Queen at
Ana Luidens
is the August Palm Beach Plaza Mall honors one lo-
Caribbean cal female artist who lives and creates
Queen 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 August 2015, local
artisan Ana Luidens is the boutique’s
celebrated Caribbean Queen, showcas-
ing her charming hand-painted bags
and purses.

Born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Ana has
been living in Aruba since the mid ’80s,
enjoying a career in the local hospitality
industry. Her interest in art was sparked
after she married her husband, Carlos,
and gave birth to her two boys, Edu-
ardo, now 20, and Carlos, 13.
She started exploring her talents at
paintbrush classes with local teacher
Tico Henriquez. She further expanded
her drawing skills with local artist
Carlos Borja, who taught her the art of
portrait painting.

Ana was instantly smitten by the shape
and the expression of the human face
and forged ahead continuously with
more classes with different teachers
experimenting in portraiture on can-
vas. By that time, she had evolved into
an accomplished painter, and her kids
became her quality controllers, rating
and overseeing her work, lending total
support to their artistic mom.

As of recently, Ana started painting on
canvas bags and will be showing her
first collection of hand-painted purses
at Caribbean Queen in August.

Caribbean Queen earmarks a percent-
age 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 well 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 pieces by Ana
throughout the month of August 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.

6 LOCAL Monday, August 10 2015 - ARUBA TRAVELLER