Pauline Kahurangi Yearbury (née Blomfield) was born , in Mātauri Bay, Te Tai Tokerau | Northland, New Zealand. Growing up in Russell, she displayed early artistic talent that led her to attend the Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland in 1943. Pauline, alongside Dame Kāterina Mataira, distinguished herself as one of the first Māori women to study at Elam, under the guidance of notable instructors like John Weeks and Archie Fisher.

After completing her training in 1949, Yearbury became a tutor at Elam, contributing to the education of aspiring artists. In 1951, she returned to Russell with her husband James, also an Elam graduate, and together, they embarked on a career as house painters. Their collaboration expanded into producing large murals which told stories from local history, most notably a nine-meter-long depiction of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi for Waitangi Hotel in 1964.

Yearbury's artistic focus centered on Māori mythology, conveyed through incised wood panels featuring abstract and stylized figurative scenes. She became a leading practitioner in Māori modernist art, and her impactful work is held in prestigious institutions like the Whangarei Museum, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, and Russell Museum.

In 1976, Yearbury showcased her dedication to ancestral knowledge with the publication of "The Children of Rangi and Papa," an illustrated book illustrating the Māori story of creation. Her painting "Papatuanuku and Ranginui" was honored on a New Zealand Post postage stamp in 2014.

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Pauline Yearbury had a lasting impact on New Zealand's artistic and cultural landscape.

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