Artist Melissa O’Donnell: ‘You just have to look, react and paint. It was a way of processing my own grief’

A mix of botanical references with ‘completely self-invented imaginary flowers in a surrealist tradition’

Melissa O'Donnell's 'Mind Garden'

Niall MacMonagle

Carrying on a family tradition, Melissa O’Donnell has planted roses and a cherry blossom tree in her new garden and “their presence acts as a visible daily connection to the memory of my parents and childhood”.