In Brearey’s works, totemic images take the place of the photorealistic visual details found in some other works of wildlife art. Animals become rudimentary and almost featureless, set against abstract surfaces. Brearey’s evocative approach was inspired in large part by the cave paintings at Lascaux, France. Brearey first saw the paintings in the mid-1980s as a college student, an experience that turned her into a serious painter.