Journal

The Colours of Naples Fishing Nets

The flat I stay in in Naples is about a three-minute walk from the sea. Most days I walk right along the promenade from the shops at one end, past the ice cream shops and the disused park, all the way to where the fishermen land their catches.

It has been so stormy here lately. Nets have been piled up into big bins, discarded, tangled together. I walked past them on the way out and didn’t think much of it. But on the way back, I stopped.

Layers of red and rust and deep orange tangled up with turquoise and yellow, all faded and salt-stained. I took out my phone and snapped these images. 

Working materials age in ways you can’t design on purpose. The sun and the salt have done their own slow altering of hue.

Every net is a different weight, a different mesh, a different stage of wear. The rust coloured floats sit in the folds like worry beads. The whole thing looked more like a textile installation than a working harbour.

I have no particular plan, no project in mind. Just colour and texture worth paying attention to.

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Comments: 8 (Add)

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Alison Grave 1771327045

Oh my word! What amazing colours and textures!!! STUNNING??

SnapdragonJane 1771336394

In reply to Alison Grave

Aren't they stunning - part of me was going "all that washed up plastic" and part of me was revelling in the colour and texture. I decided that me ignoring the beauty wasn't going to change anything but my own mood! J x

Cathy Davies 1771337369

Those are gorgeous. I could do a colour study using those photos. Thanks for sharing.

Deborah Hansen 1771339980

I too am in awe of the colors and the textures. There is so much depth in this.

SnapdragonJane 1771361194

In reply to Cathy Davies

If you do do a colour study Cathy, we'd love to see it; J x

Cathy Davies 1771362445

In reply to SnapdragonJane

I can't decide which photo to choose!

Louise White 1771363935

I love the fish nets fascinating that they have so much color and texture! I just sort observed this week and photographed texture and color that caught my eye. Thanks for sharing your photos.

Beth Bruno 1771707248

Art is everywhere if you know how to look, isn’t it? The yellow and turquoise pile looks like mohair. Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing, Jane.