Candles, wood and a blow torch hardly seem like the conventional tools of an artist but for Maegan Oberhardt they are essentials.
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Oberhardt, from Victoria, will exhibit her works drawn with flames at Morpeth Gallery on November 23 and 24.
She will also be in residence to show first hand how she makes her works of art.
Oberhardt dances flames from candles or a blowtorch across her 'canvas' to put carbon soot onto her drawings. She uses various instruments like brushes, stones and knives to remove parts of the carbon. Eventually the portrait emerges from the carbon footprint left behind from the flame.
The dark images of birds, and plants are created from swirls of soot using the method, known as fumage, created by cavemen.
"I use the soot from fire to create my work," Oberhardt said. "The soot lays on the surface of the thick paper. It is very fragile - so fragile that an insect could walk on the surface and it would leave their trace. I then scratch the surface by just touching it with various tools like real feathers to draw feathers when I'm working on a bird."
