Leonora Reilly is a self-taught visual artist from Co Derry, living in Co Louth for over 30 years. Her work includes representational oil paintings, contemporary landscapes, and abstract art.

Leonora’s artistic art journey began in school, where she found a love for creating, leading her to introduce her children to local art classes – this, in turn, reignited her spark for art. Learning from local professional artists and online masters like Louise Fletcher in the UK and Californian Nicholas Wilton of Art2Life, Leonora has been on an exploration of self-discovery. She happily moves between abstraction and the landscape - layering paint and using her favourite mark-making tools to create unique paintings.

Leonora’s inspiration comes mostly from nature – the landscape, scenes with a sense of place or belonging, from her own photo collection, her memories, or family holidays. While painting abstractly, Leonora often includes mindfulness prompts and empowerment text hidden within the painting; she tries to encourage positivity and bring joyfulness into her final piece to her clients and to light up any room or home it adorns.

When not in her studio during summer months especially, you will find Leonora at local beauty spots painting en-plein air – another passion of hers. So much so Leonora founded the Louth Plein Air Art Festival. Now in its fifth year, this festival is an event especially for artists and enthusiasts who paint outdoors on location for the day or over a weekend. Rain or shine, the artists come prepared to paint outdoors. This is a wonderful way to meet other artists and make connections, which will last long after the weekend is over.

Leonora takes a limited number of commissions each month and offers art classes in her studio