Memberships:

2022 Art Renewal Center, USA.
Title - ARC Living Artist.

Awards / Publications:

2020 Semi-Finalist for the Art Renewal Center 15th International Art Salon Competition. ‘First Lesson’.

2021 Finalist for The Holmes Prize For Realistic Australian Bird Art with ‘Black Kite on Patrol’.

2022 Semi-Finalist with 3 Artworks competing for the Art Renewal Center 16th International Art Salon Competition. ‘Gang-gang Cockatoo’, ‘Tawny Frogmouth’ and ‘Merry King’.

2022 Finalist with 1 Artworks competing for the Art Renewal Center 16th International Art Salon Competition, ‘Gang-gang Cockatoo’.

2022 International Publication - ‘Gang-gang Cockatoo’ was included among the Finalist in the Collectors Edition book by the Art Renewal Center for their 16th International Art Salon Competition.

2022 Art Renewal Center - ARC Living Artist, an internationally recognised title, 1 of 14 Australian Artists represented at this level.

2024 Semi-Finalist with 3 Artworks competing for the Art Renewal Center 17th International Art Salon Competition. ‘The Black Brumby’, ‘Country Love’ and ‘Pretty in Pink’.

2024 Lunar Codex Artist with 3 Artworks included in the Polaris Archive - 1/7 Time capsules launched to the South Pole of the Moon. ‘The Black Brumby’, ‘Country Love’ and ‘Pretty in Pink’. As part of the Art Renewal Center and their collaboration with the Lunar Codex, Samuel Peralta and NASA.

2024 Finalist for The Holmes Prize For Realistic Australian Bird Art with ‘Charmed’.

2024 Finalist with 2 Artworks competing for the Art Renewal Center 17th International Art Salon Competition. ‘Pretty in Pink’ and ‘Country Love’.

2025 Finalist with ‘Charmed’ and ‘Country Love’ competing in The Almenara Art Prize in the Animal and Wildlife category.

2025 Honourable Mentions award with ‘Charmed’ in the Animal and Wildlife category in The Almenara Art Prize.

2025 International Publication - ‘Charmed’ features with Honourable Mentions for the Animal and Wildlife Category in The Almenara Art Prize Collectors Edition book.

2025 Winning 5th place with ‘The Black Brumby’ in their 10th Competition ‘Contemporary Realism’ in the Progressus Art Awards.

2026 International Publication - ‘Pretty in Pink’ and ‘Country Love’ are included among the Finalist in the Collectors Edition book by the Art Renewal Center for their 17th & 18th International Art Salon combined competition.

2026 Long-list and online exhibition with ‘Age Old Eyes’, ‘The Black Brumby’ and ‘Sleeping Beauty’ in The Almenara Art Prize.

Represented in Private collections across Australia, Europe, East Asia and the North Americas.

Born in 1997 and raised on a rural property in Queensland, Australia; Maegan spent her early years surrounded by nature and native wildlife. This environment provided her with the opportunity to study their features, individual characteristics, movement, and their expressions. It taught her appreciation of the natural environment and inspired her passion for animals, becoming the foundation for her artistic creativity.

By the time she started high school in 2010, she had moved to the northeastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria with her family. It was the same area that was affected by the Black Saturday bush fires in Kinglake in 2009. She had many friends who were directly impacted by that day and the devastation to the local region. After completing Year 12, she continued formal studies and by the age of 19, graduated University with a Bachelor of Design Arts.

Throughout her education she maintained a continual focus on art and experimentation in style, media, and mediums. She had become confident with her drawing skills and looked for unusual and challenging techniques to enhance her drawings in both concept and composition. One such technique has been traditionally referred to as ‘Fumage’. This incorporates the soot from an open flame as the media directly or in combination with other media to create an ethereal and abstract effect. This technique was popularised by surrealist greats like Wolfgang Paalen (1905 - 1959), Salvadore Dali (1904 - 1989), and David Boyd (1924 - 2011).

“Using Fumage or as I like to call it ‘Painting with Fire’ since the former sounds more like “Fromage” and I’d rather not give the impression that I paint with cheese. Fumage isn’t pyrography either as it doesn’t actually burn the material, well, 90% it doesn’t burn anything, there have been some accidents along the way but moving on... It uses the soot/carbon that is transferred from the open flame to the paper and that is then etched back with brushes, needles and erasers. It’s similar to a Charcoal in the effects but behaves more like a DIY scratchboard that is completely unforgiving in correcting mistakes. It can take me anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months to create an artwork that is representational of the subject. I use Pencil and Watercolour in the foundation of my pieces to guide and enhance their natural elements as the soot only has varying hues of brown and gold and it can be rather limiting.”

“The concept of the artworks is in the technique, as it is man-made fire burning paper, a commentary on the conflict between man vs nature. With fire being important to so many parts of Australia, I feel it is closer to home to depict our native wildlife in the very element they have evolved with.”
“It’s taken 9 years of developing my version of ‘Fumage’ into a technique and process that can accurately depict a subject, to represent what is there in body and soul. Our animals are so beautiful and unique as they are and I want to showcase that to the world. ”

Every 2 years the Art Renewal Center hosts the most difficult competition in realism with an average of 5,000+ entries across 80+ countries. Maegan has had 6 pieces in 2 competitions make it to the semi-finals, the top 40% of the world. Her beloved Gang-gang Cockatoo was published as a finalist in the top 20% and included in the collectors edition book and sent around the globe in 2022. She has had another 2 artworks make it into the finals round of the 17th International Art Salon competition in 2024 with ‘Country Love’ and ‘Pretty in Pink’ also being published in the new edition for collectors around the world. The ARC has awarded Maegan the title of ‘ARC Living Artist’ and she is the youngest among 13 Australian Artists represented internationally.

Maegan had 3 artworks included in the biggest and most global heritage project of its kind in the last 50 years - The Lunar Codex. It is a collection of 7 Time Capsules containing Art, Music, Writing and film from 254 Countries and Territories launching to the South Pole of the Moon and set to last a million years. Maegan is among 7 thousand creatives in the Polaris Archive launching September 2025.

Maegan’s Artwork is represented in collections across the United States of America, New Zealand, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, Japan and all states in Australia. You can find a range of Maegan’s Artwork in Print form at Kathy Ellem Gallery in Beechworth VIC, Plane Tree Gallery in Tumut, Accent Framing and Fine Art in Ballarat and locally at the Milawa Post Office.
To enquire about Original Artworks please contact Maegan via email.

Studies:
2015 - 2017 Bachelor of Design Arts Majoring in Graphic Design and Visual Art.

Exhibitions:
2018 ‘Absence Exhibition Kodiak’ Solo Exhibition in Fitzroy, VIC.
2019 ‘Absence Exhibition Nine Lives’ Solo Exhibition in Fitzroy, VIC.
2019 ‘Absence Exhibition’ Solo Exhibition in Hurstbridge, VIC.
2019 ‘Painting with Fire’ Solo Exhibition and introduction into Morpeth Gallery, NSW.
2020 ‘Festival of Two Palettes’ Group Exhibition at Morpeth Gallery, NSW.
2020 ‘A Hommage to Wildlife’ Group Exhibition at Aarwun Gallery, Canberra.
2020 Solo Exhibition at Bright Chalet, VIC.
2021 ‘Festival of Two Palettes’ Group Exhibition at Morpeth Gallery, NSW.
2021 ‘Easter Solo Exhibition’ at Bright Chalet, VIC.
2021 ‘Feathers, Furr, Skin and Scales’ Group Exhibition at Morpeth Gallery, NSW.
2021 ‘Holmes Prize’ Finalist Art Exhibition at Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve, QLD.  
2022 ‘Festival of Two Palettes’ Group Exhibition at Morpeth Gallery, NSW.
2022 ‘Convergence’ Group Exhibition by King Valley Arts at King River Brewing, VIC.
2022 ‘Feathers and Fur June Exhibition’ Group Exhibition at Morpeth Gallery, NSW.
2023 ‘Festival of Two Palettes’ Group Exhibition at Morpeth Gallery, NSW.
2023 ‘Feathers and Fur June Exhibition’ Group Exhibition at Morpeth Gallery, NSW.
2024 ‘Feathers and Fur June Exhibition’ Group Exhibition at Morpeth Gallery, NSW.
2024 ‘Art Renewal Center 17th International Art Salon’ Online Exhibition of Finalists. New York, USA.
2024 ‘Holmes Prize’ Finalist Art Exhibition at Sunshine Coast Art and Framing Gallery. QLD, Aus.
2025 ‘Almenara Art Prize’ Online Exhibition of Finalist and Honourable Mentions. Cordoba, Spain.
2025 ‘Progressus Art Awards’ Online Exhibition of Winners. Zurich, Switzerland.
2026 ‘Almenara Art Prize’ Online Exhibition of Long-list (first round) selected Artworks. Cordoba, Spain.

Distinctions / Publications:
2020 USA Semi-finalist in ARC 15th International Art Salon.
2021 AUS Finalist in The Holmes Prize for realistic Australian Bird Art.
2022 USA Art Renewal Center - ARC Living Artist - an internationally recognised title.
2022 USA Semi-Finalist with 3 Artworks competing for the Art Renewal Center 16th International ARC Art Salon Competition.
2022 USA Finalist with 1 Artworks competing for the Art Renewal Center 16th International ARC Art Salon Competition.
2024 USA Semi-Finalist with 3 Artworks competing for the Art Renewal Center 17th International ARC Art Salon Competition.
2024 GLOBAL Lunar Codex inclusion with 3 artworks in the Polaris Archive under the Art Renewal Center 17th Art Salon.
2024 AUS Finalist in The Holmes Prize for realistic Australian Bird Art.
2024 USA Finalist with 2 Artworks competing for the Art Renewal Center 17th International ARC Art Salon Competition.
2025 AUS Publication of ‘Age Old Eyes’ and 2nd page feature Editorial about Maegan Oberhardt in the Lunar Codex by Meg Watson for The Age Newspaper.
2025 AUS Publication 2nd Page Feature Editorial about Maegan Oberhardt in the Lunar Codex by Meg Watson for The Sydney Morning Herald.
2025 ESP Almenara Art Prize with ‘Charmed’ awarded Honourable Mentions in the Animal and Wildlife Category.
2025 ESP Publication of Almenara Art Prize Competition with ‘Charmed’ awarded Honourable Mentions in the Animal and Wildlife Category in the Collectors Edition Book.
2025 CHE Progressus Art Awards with ‘The Black Brumby’ Winning 5th place in their 10th Competition ‘Contemporary Realism’.
2026 USA Publication of two Artworks in the Art Renewal Center 17th and 18th International ARC Salon Competition - Collectors Edition Book.
2026 ESP Almenara Art Prize with ‘Age Old Eyes’, ‘The Black Brumby’ and ‘Sleeping Beauty’ achieving the Long- list selection in the Animal & Wildlife Category.