The study of gems inspired Shidi to search for beauty in everything. “Each gem has a life,” she says. “They were all formed after millions of years of geological movement. So when I study precious stones, I try to get a sense of the great beauty contained on the inside as well. Both their color and their form have provided great inspiration for my artistic creations.”

The texture of gems can also be seen in Shidi’s paintings: The color layers are as thin as gauze, but the strokes are acute, and the changing hues brought about by the randomness of creation are evocative of the veins of a deep gem mine.

Although Shidi has never studied at a regular academy of art, she was fortunate to fall under the tutelage of several masters, who taught her not just painting skills but also how to have confidence in herself. “I love painting,” she exclaims. “It brings me happiness and delight, and has no commandments or restrictions. I always feel like I have left a part of me on the canvas.” Shidi always rises at dawn to pursue her passion, rushing to her studio to get an idea on paper, often even forgetting to change out of her pajamas.

Some critics view Shidi’s “nonprofessional” status as an advantage. Fan Di’an, an art critic and director of the National Art Museum of China, once pointed out that those who excel in painting but do not take it as a vocation are traditionally admired and respected in China. They have a certain authenticity, unburdened by the factors of fame and profit, and instead able to pursue art simply for art’s sake.

Shidi has traveled to many countries and visited numerous art museums in North America and Europe in order to broaden her artistic horizons. She likes to talk with philosophers and discuss metaphysical problems, and such free-flowing conversations often inspire her creations. After viewing Shidi’s paintings, Zhai Zhenming, Professor of Philosophy at Sun Yat-sen University, praised the complexity of her work: “The inherent vagueness of Angélique Shidi’s artistic language could put you in a state of ambivalence and indecision. You can jump into or escape from it, but there is no way you can ignore or disregard it. Angelique Shidi’s naivety and innocence would lead you to see what you have been hiding from yourself, and the fading area of your mental world could be vitalized by Shidi’s unbounded freedom witnessed in the strokes and veins of her work.”

While Shidi threw herself into the world of art, paying little attention to the public’s appraisals of her paintings, many began to suggest she was as a real talent to watch. Since 2003, Shidi has held solo exhibitions both home and abroad, and many of her paintings have been collected by various organizations. In 2005, one of her exhibitions became the first cultural event to be held at the China Art Center in Paris, and her ink-and-wash painting Flooding Strokes – 5 was presented by the Chinese government to the then French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin as a gift. Earlier this year, she donated her work to the World Expo Shanghai, and it was selected to be displayed at the China Pavilion. But all of this fame, and no doubt fortune, has not gone to her head. “I’m just doing what I like to do,” she announces.