Patricia O’Reilly

Patricia O’Reilly, creator of Barkless Art, is a non-fiction writer who values escaping the vast terrain of logical words into the visceral resonance of visual art. She studied art under the tutelage of Auseklis Ozols, founder of the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts, in her hometown of NOLA. It was the force of too much water—Hurricane Katrina—that pushed her move from Louisiana to the Grand Canyon State twenty years ago.

She enjoys exploring the outdoors with her musician husband, J.D., on adventures across Arizona. They now live in Prescott Valley with their four rescue dogs—a Basenji, Prints Comet, and three mixed-breed rez dogs: Angel Littlefoot, Sammy Strider, and Oliver Cash—all of whom, she says with a grin, “have rescued me.”

When viewing her artwork, one may discover new details over time, much like finding hidden forms in clouds sculpted by wind. Patricia expresses emotion through playful movement that explores nature’s harmony and strife—images that are at once whimsical and serious, graphic and abstract. Sprightly, vivid insects crawl and fly, while quirky rescue dogs stride and leap into her vibrant compositions, primarily painted in opaque gouache. Whether free-flowing or precisely rendered, her pieces are always anchored in color and design.