Cara O’Reilly

Cara O’Reilly is a Connecticut-based painter represented by the Geary Gallery, Darien and George Billis Gallery, New York. Her work is included in collections across the United States and Switzerland, and in the permanent collection of Stamford Hospital’s Bennett Cancer Center.

She is a full-time Exhibiting Member of the Rowayton Art Center and a member of the Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists and the Portrait Society of America. Recent exhibitions include the Red Dot Art Fair during Art Basel Miami (2024), 10 Female Artists at George Billis Gallery (2024), and the Mark Twain Library Exhibition (2023), along with solo exhibitions at Lanphier and Brendan’s 101.

Born and raised in Newburyport, Massachusetts — a seaside community — water has always been a constant presence in O’Reilly’s life. Seventeen years ago, she chose to raise her children in the Darien area for its proximity to water. This quiet presence weaves through her work, shaping imagery and mood, and connecting each piece through a shared sense of stillness.

Artist Statement

My oil paintings explore light, atmosphere, and quiet moments within landscapes and water, drawn from both plein air observation and photographs gathered across places I’ve experienced. Shaped by a lifelong connection to the sea — from Newburyport, Massachusetts to Darien — each work reflects a sense of calm, memory, and shared stillness.