Based in the Waikato for much of her life, Ida Carey is one of the region's best-known artists. Her work was first exhibited by the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts in 1928 and in 1932 several of her paintings were hung at the Canterbury Society of Arts' annual exhibition.

The following year she was persuaded by the New Zealand artist Frances Ellis to study under the Italian painter Antonio Dattilo Rubbo in Sydney; she stayed at his school for six months. Carey travelled to Britain and Europe twice during the 1950s, visiting major galleries and painting prolifically. Her most interesting work from this period is a series of candid portraits of well-known performers from the ballet and theatre in London.

From the mid 1930s she worked at several Hamilton secondary schools, including Hamilton High School, where she taught for 12 years and was a member of the permanent staff from 1945 to 1949.

In August 1934 Ida Carey and Adele Younghusband convened a public meeting in Hamilton which led to the establishment of the Waikato Society of Arts. Both women spoke of the need to develop and encourage artists in the region, and to bring local and national work to the general public through regular exhibitions. Carey's involvement with the society was to last almost 50 years: she was president (1945-48 and 1952-54) and became a life member in 1964.

Carey painted prolifically, even into her nineties. Her works are characterised by a sense of quiet observation of her immediate environment. Drawn from everyday life, her subjects include portraits, still lifes, and ballet studies. Although it is for her Māori portraits that she is best known, critics have generally claimed that Ida Carey's finest work was done in the 1920s and 1930s.