She started painting when she was 71 years old; her work is held in the permanent collections of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, The Hocken Collections, University of Otago, The University of Auckland and the National Gallery of Australia.
She began painting in the 1960s, without any formal training, when one of her daughters became interested in art.
Her work often depicted leisure activities from her Samoan childhood, such as fishing, cricket, swimming, church and picnics.
[2][5] In 2002, a retrospective of her work, "Keep It in the Heart: The Paintings of Teuane Tibbo" was held in Auckland at the Lopdell House Gallery (now Te Uru).
[2][4] Her work was also featured in the 2021 exhibition Stars Start Falling, which was presented at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and Te Uru.