Sheilagh Dyson

Sheilagh Dyson Mixed Media artist specialising in eco-printing and dyeing, textiles and image transfer, with a pass

After we wrapped up the final G&M workshop yesterday, my new friend Ilse and I spent a glorious hour at the brilliant Be...
13/05/2026

After we wrapped up the final G&M workshop yesterday, my new friend Ilse and I spent a glorious hour at the brilliant Beryl Cook exhibition at the Box gallery in Plymouth

She lived in the city for many years, and preferred to paint the local people in all their glory, rather than the classic coastal views most artists chose

Victoria Wood summed her up perfectly, describing Cook as 'Rubens with jokes' 😆

I've tried to sketch 'Muriel', a sculpture she made from papier mache and displayed under a glass dome - but quickly realised just how difficult it is to capture that trademark sideways glance and knowing smirk

The exhibition is an absolute joy - you can't possibly go round without a big smile on your face! 😄 It runs until the end of the month

Distress Crayons, Graphitone watersoluble pencil, Stabilo All pencil, waterbrush












Day 8 of G&M, with a fabulous pick n mix of techniques to use with vintage photos, delivered by our wonderful hosts and...
13/05/2026

Day 8 of G&M, with a fabulous pick n mix of techniques to use with vintage photos, delivered by our wonderful hosts and

I didn't get to finish my little dabble till this morning though, while waiting for my taxi in the hotel room after saying my last fond farewells to the new friends we made this week - I do hope we get to meet again soon 🤗

What an incredible experience - so much more than I ever dared hope ❤️

Collage ephemera, vintage photo, glue stick, fineliner, acrylic paint















Day 7 of G&M, and it's our last day tomorrow, so we're all feeling the sadness of anticipated farewells 🥹Today's class w...
11/05/2026

Day 7 of G&M, and it's our last day tomorrow, so we're all feeling the sadness of anticipated farewells 🥹

Today's class was led by who delivered a brilliant textile scroll making workshop packed full of so many excellent ideas, our heads were spinning with the possibilities by the end of the day!

So my dabble tonight is the simplest of collages, bringing together the tags from my regular builders tea, and the herbal infusion favoured by my new bff, Ilse ☕ 🍵 ☕

We still have one more day's workshop to look forward to tomorrow, led by our hosts and

Thank you both, it's been an incredible experience 🙏

Collage ephemera, glue stick, Graphitone watersoluble pencil, waterbrush















Day 4 of G&M, exploring landscape and connections through concertina bookmaking with It gave me the chance to wander rou...
08/05/2026

Day 4 of G&M, exploring landscape and connections through concertina bookmaking with

It gave me the chance to wander round Plymouth Hoe as part of our workshop, so I got to see Tinside Lido, a glorious Art Deco open air pool, in the warm sunshine

Sadly it won't be open for another couple of weeks, so I'll have to figure out an excuse to return again in summer 😎

Not easy to sketch with such limited colours to hand, but it's now in my book as a happy reminder of a new addition to my bucket list ☺️

Distress Crayons, Lamy fountain pen, posca paint pen, Graphitone watersoluble pencil, waterbrush





Tinside Lido - Plymouth Active










Day 3 of our Gather & Make collage retreat, playing with stitch, scalpels, paint and staples, under the excellent guidan...
07/05/2026

Day 3 of our Gather & Make collage retreat, playing with stitch, scalpels, paint and staples, under the excellent guidance of our hosts, and ❤️

Collage ephemera, stitch














Day 2 of Gather & Make collage retreat found us working hard to bring the patchworks of precious paper ephemera together...
06/05/2026

Day 2 of Gather & Make collage retreat found us working hard to bring the patchworks of precious paper ephemera together into a little book, under the excellent tutelage of

My dabble is a simple collage of some of the scraps left over, including a tiny offcut from my Dutch colleague who shares my table, with added marks from a corrector pen 😊

We've learned so much already, and it's only day two - sux more fabulous days to go! 😃

Collage ephemera, corrector pen














Day 1 of Gather & Make collage retreat in Plymouth, hosted by the incredible team of and We kicked off with the fabulo...
05/05/2026

Day 1 of Gather & Make collage retreat in Plymouth, hosted by the incredible team of and

We kicked off with the fabulous beginning the first of a two day book making course, bringing together collage elements that spoke to us, and learning to trust the process

This altered watch fob was my token from a special 'lucky dip' to prompt a written response, which was surprisingly emotional 🥹

There's been tearing, concealing, stencilling and stamping, mark-making and burning (which could easily become rather addictive! 😅), followed by gentle slow stitching into our patchworks till past 10 at night

We're close by to the Barbican, the lively harbour side in Plymouth, which buzzes by day and looks utterly magical by night ✨

Bring on tomorrow's adventures! 😃

Distress Crayons, Graphitone watersoluble pencil, fineliner pen, Lamy fountain pen, shimmer watercolours, waterbrush













After an early start, I've made it down to Plymouth for the G&M workshop, and already we've had a lovely introductory ga...
04/05/2026

After an early start, I've made it down to Plymouth for the G&M workshop, and already we've had a lovely introductory gathering and a meal out together, watching the lights in the harbour gradually work their fairy-magic as the sun sets on a lovely day

As if things weren't busy enough in recent days, I found myself with excess mixed epoxy putty left over from another project I was working on, so rather than see it go to waste, I decided to make a little jointed doll 😅

I had to work quickly as the putty was already going off, so her proportions are a bit off, and the symmetry a bit wonky, but I'm pretty pleased how well she's come together - though the final wiring didn't happen till this morning, as I was getting ready to leave! 🫣 She's called 'Dotty', after the madness of making her when I had literally no time to do so!

With the luxury of a long train journey ahead of me, I set about trying to knit her a dress, adapting the small scale patterns I've used for my little 6" BJD doll 'Acorn'. I had to unpick and restart it as I realised it was going to be too big for her - very much an experiment, so we'll see how well it works out!

Meanwhile, our list of supplies for the workshop didn't include Distress Crayons (unsurprisingly, as few folk have heard of them), and space was at a premium, so I've had to drastically pare back and choose my favourites - rather a Sophie's Choice dilemma, which explains why the colours look a bit weird in tonight's dabble 😬

Distress Crayons, Graphitone watersoluble pencil, Stabilo All pencil, Inktense pencils, waterbrush















A happy few hours catching up with the ever gorgeous .rogue.siren , enjoying thumping rock music from the excellent in ...
04/05/2026

A happy few hours catching up with the ever gorgeous .rogue.siren , enjoying thumping rock music from the excellent in town yesterday afternoon 🎵 🎶 🎵

Maidstone hosts a Fringe Festival of local music every early May bank holiday, and this year's lineup looks exceptional, so it was good to squeeze in at least one band before my trip

This young woman was sat near us as the heavens opened and everyone ran for cover ☔ - I was mesmerised by the artistry of her beautiful hair, and complimented her as we left 🩵 💜 🩵

Not easy to sketch at high speed, late at night, but still a lovely reminder of happy times with friends 😊

Distress Crayons, Graphitone watersoluble pencil, waterbrush















I was up till well past midnight last night, scrabbling to catch up with my dabbles before heading off to the big Gather...
04/05/2026

I was up till well past midnight last night, scrabbling to catch up with my dabbles before heading off to the big Gather & Make collage workshop at Plymouth, with my taxi arriving at 930 this morning! 🫣 - I know if I let it go too long, it'll be too easy to give up my daily sketching habit

I thought I'd missed the chance to photograph Willow in amongst Bluebells, as I was madly prepping for the workshop - but then I noticed a few clumps still flowering in our garden, and the sun was still shining before the rains were due to roll in, so I embraced the distraction and jumped down another rabbit hole 🐇 🕳️

It's not quite the 'woodland walk in drifts of Bluebells' I'd imagined, but I'm pleased the photos turned out so well after all - the sketch not quite so great, but it was late and at speed! 😅

I'm hoping to photograph Willow through the seasons... just need to plan it a bit better!

Distress Crayons, Graphitone watersoluble pencil, Inktense indigo pencil, waterbrush

















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