Three row boats teeter on the crests of waves in a stormy ocean. In the centre, the largest boat holds two figures, one wears an A-shaped dress suggesting girlhood. sailors holding oars navigate a boat on a wavy ocean. A busy shoal of fish fills the swell and even jump into the sky above. This rare composition of lustre glazed tiles brings together shades of silver, rose, gold, lilac, and earth. The outer tiles around the boats creates a frame in the manner of a biblical illuminated manuscript: winged angels, shepherds holding crooks, castles, and vegetation. 

Fisherman could be read as an allegory for the making of art: "I am not a chemist. I experiment with glazed formulas, usually using the unpredictable reduction firing, when the kiln is smoked. I keep records of every piece made, and though effects cannot be duplicated, the records are stepping stones to new experiments. Rarely am I pleased with the results, but I keep on trying and that is important. Only in action do we discover what is wrong or right. Edison, the great inventor of the electric bulb, when consoled on having made ten thousand experiments, replied the time had not been wasted, because he learned what he did not want. If the sea offers no challenge the navigator cannot learn to sail." - I Shock Myself, Beatrice Wood, 1985 (2018 edition), p.168