Description
Luminous Abstract Floral Painting
Always On My Mind is a luminous abstract floral painting that began as all of my paintings do ~ intuitively, with expressions of color and marks until forms began to take shape and a feeling emerged.
That feeling was abundance ~ not in quantity or busyness, but in weight, form, and color.
Building Light in a Luminous Abstract Floral Painting
Building light through color relationships is central to this luminous abstract floral painting. Many layers of transparency create depth. Just as I build light from within the painting, I build substance the same way ~ not through surface light and shadow, but through layers, marks, color temperature, and relationships.
The flower heads became substantial and grounding, carrying their own weight while still appearing illuminated from within. Against the violet field, the yellows become even more luminous, while the deep greens anchor the composition and create contrast.
Transparency, Depth, and Mystery
Transparency, depth, and mystery shape the lower half of the painting.
The vessel and table occupy nearly half the canvas, built through transparent and opaque passages of green, blue-green, violet, and buried warmth. Forms emerge, disappear, and reappear, allowing the lower half to hold depth without becoming literal.
More Than a Floral Painting
Always On My Mind is more than a floral painting ~ it is part of a larger body of work, the series Fresh Air. Fresh air is a collection of 10 original paintings that I created in Spring of 2026.
The familiar language of flowers gathered in a vessel emerged through the intuitive process, but what I was expressing was not still life, or even color. I expressed the freedom that fresh air, Spring, and new beginnings offer.
Fresh Air grew from a season of change and a return to painting without obligation. I had just completed a structured artist residency program and was settling into my new home studio after a move away from my home state of New Hampshire.
For the first time in months, I had no required body of work, no exhibition theme or deadlines. I simply responded to what was happening on the canvas and in my experience of new beginnings and a new season.
A Luminous Abstract Floral Painting for Lived-In Spaces
I imagine this luminous abstract floral painting finding its place in spaces that are lived in, loved, and designed to renew the body, mind, and spirit.
Family spaces, a boutique inn overlooking coastal Maine, a guest suite, a designer’s home studio, a book nook, a home office, or an art gallery ~ Always On My Mind brings the comfort of home.
Painting Details and Shipping
Always On My Mind is an original 2026 acrylic mixed media painting on canvas by Melissa Lea. The painting measures 40 × 30 inches in vertical orientation, is framed in a thin black gallery frame, and arrives ready to hang. This is a one-of-one original artwork.
I deliver regionally, in person, at no additional charge. We can also arrange pick up. Shipping is available at cost. Please contact me before purchase with any questions about delivery, shipping, or placement.
View a studio video of Always On My Mind in YouTube: HERE
View available works in the Fresh Air series: HERE
