Halfstack Highlights Ep. 38 - Emerging from the Shadows

Another edition of Halfstack Highlights is live this week! As we continue to dive into the theme of explore, for this episode I wanted to take you on an exploration of a topic – Art and the Artists behind the work. As an art school student graduate, art has always been a topic that I have been drawn to. I’ve always found the theory behind art, the history and the artists themselves fascinating. As a hobbyist painter, I’ve always found art as a way to explore myself in a deeper way. It’s also been an outlet for me during some of the darkest moments in my life alongside music. When you look at a painting, you’re seeing so much more than the subject matter. Often, you are seeing the perspective of that subject through the eyes of the artist. You may feel the pain, sorrow, anger or joy through the painting. You can truly connect with an artist through their artwork.

This week I had the opportunity to talk with Art Conservator and Author: Maurine St. Gaudens and Researcher: Joseph Morsman about their latest release with Schiffer Publishing: Emerging from the Shadows: A Survey of Women Artists Working in California, 1860-1960.  Throughout this series they are introducing and re-introducing a diverse group of dynamic women artists. This 4 volume series delves into showcasing many women who did not get the attention they deserved during this time, solely because they were women. There are hundreds of women highlighted and still that merely scratches the surface. Many of the artists represented in the book actually have a Chicago connection as they were either born and raised in the area or even attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

The 4-volume series is incredibly well organized and most importantly has a plethora of beautiful imagery to go along with the features of each artist. So often, I find that text books and research based books about artists are lacking one important thing, the actual art! OR for that matter, sometimes the art shown isn't always validated as authentic. Maurine and Joseph genuinely put in so much effort to ensure that the work they are including is authentic and up to standards. They truly showcase a visually stimulating body of work within each book alongside information that is meant to expand your mind and open your eyes to the many female artists that they are bringing out of the shadows.

Throughout this episode, we discuss their 7 year journey into researching  and publishing this book, the backgrounds of Maurine and Joseph and we even touch on the many obstacles female artists had to endure during this time period. Maurine and Joseph truly curated a group of artists that have such interesting back stories and who were really the pioneering creative women of their day. To finish off our episode, we spotlight 4 artists with a Chicago connection. I hope you all enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed speaking with Maureen and Joseph. Click play below for the full podcast!




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Thanks for listening to this latest episode of Halfstack Highlights! If you would like to learn more about Emerging from the Shadows as well as more information about Maureen and Joseph – check out http://www.emergingfromtheshadows.com. You can purchase the books online at amazon.com. While you’re at it, please take a moment to stop by halfstackmag.com and of course keep up with us on twitter, facebook and Instagram all @halfstackmag. Thanks for your support!!