Dories were a common theme in Jack L. Gray's work, as was the life of fishermen along the northeastern coast of North America. In 1947, after two years of study at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design Gray left the school and went on sketching trips alone and with former classmate and fellow artist Joseph Purcell. During the summer of 1947 the two artists rented the loft of a fish store at New Harbour, Nova Scotia and made many drawings and paintings of the area.

In this scene fishermen hang their nets to dry behind riverside fishing shacks. Barrels and boxes lie ready to receive the catch, while the colorful dories sit tied just offshore. As a fisherman himself, Gray surely knew many such afternoons where after the catch was in, the fisherman could sit on a dock in the sun and maintain the tools of their trade.

Gray's stirring depictions of maritime life are regularly sought after throughout the USA and Canada and can often exceed expectations when they are up for public sale and auctions.