Folding the Net

Folding the Net

24 x 30  |  acrylic on canvas
$3200

Folding the Net captures the quiet labor of Florida mullet fishermen at the end of a long day on the water. Three figures work a heavy net together — one standing in the bow, two wading alongside a wooden skiff — their movements unhurried and practiced. Gioia renders them in a muted, tonal palette of charcoal, umber, and dusty gray, with only faint traces of warm ochre in the open sky. The stillness of the composition holds both exhaustion and purpose.

A tradition still alive on Florida’s Gulf Coast, net fishing has defined communities like Apalachicola and Carrabelle for generations. Florida mullet fishermen once worked these waters almost entirely by hand — small crews, wooden boats, and haul nets pulled by collective effort. Though Florida’s 1994 net ban dramatically reshaped commercial fishing here, traditional methods survived in regulated forms, and the culture they built endures in the character of these towns. Gioia documents that world with painter’s honesty rather than nostalgia.

Gioia’s expressive brushwork gives the net physical weight — you can feel the drag of it against the water. The three figures move as one unit, each bearing part of the load, which gives the scene its quiet dignity. The flat horizon and diffused late light push all attention to the labor itself. This is acrylic on canvas, 24×30 inches, and ships ready to hang in a frame selected to complement the muted, earthy tones of the work.

The haiku Gioia wrote alongside this piece says what the painting already shows: another day folding toward its close, another chance gathered in.

Acrylic on canvas · 24 × 30 inches · Ships framed