Maughan's work grows from agricultural narratives of man and beast. The scenes she paints are rooted in experiences from her youth, while she was raised on a farm in Southwestern Washington. Working on a sprawling cattle farm, she took on everything from routine agricultural chores to treating ill livestock and caring for the animals’ general well‑being. She recognizes the separation that has developed between society and the time-consuming, chaotic, and claustrophobic life that many people experience while working in agriculture. It's dirty, disastrous, and dismal at times, though filled with brief periods of grace; her paintings are the same.