India ink

Lotion tubes, squirt bottles, brushes, a honey bear, solo flip-flops, a Wiffle ball and a legless lawn flamingo now stained bone-white, all provide the canvas for Riley’s patterned mariner drawings in India ink.

“The only work open to women consists of tracing the characters on clear celluloid sheets with India ink and filling in the tracings on the reverse side with paint according to directions.”

The Victorian-era collections are true works of art, with purple, red, brown and green algae arranged in eye-catching patterns on sturdy white card and signed in flowing India ink.

Circle-shaped watercolor and India ink images capture her vignettes’ drama, spotlighting the players.

Visitors can see the pencil lines beneath the India ink, and the white-out on top.