Salmon Nets Drying by Lil Neilson (1938-1998) captures in blurry detail nets strung up to dry, with a possible coastline in the distance through dry brush strokes of bright white and a small amount of blue pigment mixed in. Criss-crossing strokes making up black silhouettes in the sky give the suggestion that groups of birds are congregating for fish. Much of the details of the work is blurred due to Neilson applying various layers of wide strokes of paint overtop each other and the thinner strokes that make up the nets. While some saturation of colour is present, these strokes are darker and unsaturated, creating an overall serious and intense mood to the work. 

The influences of Neilson's friend and lover Joan Eardley are present in this work through the thicker, wilder layers of oil paint that downplay the richer colours in the lower layers. The layering technique is also characteristic of Neilson's other works depicting coastlines. It creates a wildness to the piece that reflects its overall mood and atmosphere. 

Lil Neilson, 1938-1998

Born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Neilson attended Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee from 1956 to 1960, a course of study that included a summer at Hospitalfield in Arbroath. She completed a post-diploma year tutored by Hugh Adam Crawford and Alberto Morrocco, and won a travelling scholarship to France and Italy the next year. On her return she joined Joan Eardley in Catterline, on Scotland's east coast; they had become friends in 1960, and Eardley invited Neilson to paint in her studio. Neilson remained in Catterline after Eardley's death in 1963.