The Sioux City Art Museum is full of fantastic art from different American artists throughout the last 100 years. Two pieces that really spoke to me while visiting were Nemo Dorn’s self portrait and Phyllis Sloane’s ‘The Straw Hat’ screen print.

First Dorn’s acrylic on canvas self portrait painting caught my attention because of the artist’s ability to show such captivating expressions through his eyes and glasses in the painting. By layering the paint and creating more dimension and texture to the painting made it more lively and realistic. A self portrait is one of the most difficult things to paint for an artist and I think that Dorn did an excellent job. The shading was done so well, and the farther back you stood from the painting the more the lines and colors blended together to get a seamless look, yet when you walk closer to the image one realizes just how much detail the painting has.

Overall, I enjoyed this piece and the feelings it conveyed.

Following the Dorn image, another piece I enjoyed was Phyllis Sloane’s screen print titled, “The Straw. Hat”. The reason this image had such a strong connection with me was the color and stylistic choices the artist made. This piece can be titled as bland at first glance. The color pallet is a mix of browns and grays with a pop of orange color. The reason this resonates with me is the patterns and textures in the piece. There are many patterns overlapping one another that makes the print seem very busy. For some it may be too busy but I think with the unsaturated color scheme the patterns create a good balance in the print. I feel it is very relatable and is definitely something I would hang in my house, or even try to create myself.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this piece of artwork.