Artist Zelie Alice paints expressionist landscapes of the European countryside. In 2019, the President and First Lady of the Maldives inaugurated Zelie's solo exhibition at the National Art Gallery, making headline news in over a dozen newspapers and covered by national television. Zelie was born in the Maldives, where she spent her childhood painting and drawing. However, in her twenties she worked at a bank and barely made time to create art. Everything changed when she quit her job to pursue a business degree. While studying, she started painting again. "I spent all my free time practicing art, painting day and night," says Zelie. "I realized I had a vital need to free my imagination and start creating. I realized I want to build a career as an artist." She quickly started exhibiting her work in Asia and Europe. Her first break came during the Art Expo held in the Maldives, where all of her 33 paintings on display sold within five days. Today, she works from a small, tidy space in Paris, where she keeps her easel near the window to capture the natural light. On the weekends, she plans forest walks and countryside strolls to keep her mind fresh and look for inspiration. Her work has been exhibited at the Florence Biennale, the Asian Art Biennale in Bangladesh, and is held in the permanent collection of the Chinese Ministry of Art and Culture in Beijing.