Tearne’s work grows out of experiences in Italy, specifically Pompeii and Herculaneum. Her still-life paintings try to catch something of the feel of objects which have emerged into the light of day after lying for centuries in darkness. The oil paint is placed layer upon layer, then carefully removed to produce a kind of iridescent glow upon which the objects float.

Tearne has recently completed an M.F.A. at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford.