Machiel Hagedoorn is sometimes called the carpenter of painting because he worked for Shell as a carpenter in Curacao. He made many oil paintings there. However in Netherlands he was forced to stop due to his diabetes and the slow drying time of oil paint. Many drawings came out of his retired life, but the oil paintings are a lot more scarce. Before the war he studied arts at the art academy of Rotterdam. He took a long journey through Europe with the well-known painter Arie Zwart. Several exhibitions in the West Indies from well known and leading artists from the Netherlands, such as Toorop, Ket, Eyck and Voskuyl inspired him to an unprecedented production of work, not totally led by commerce, but rather by what struck him.