Tree Bee

17/01/2026

Black bees in Lanzarote.

Holidaying on this wonderful island of Lanzarote I thought i might find out about the type of honey bee that is found here and it happens to be the Canary Black Bee. In the north of the island about 210 hives are spread accross the land from Teguise, Guatiza to Haria which have produced local honey for more than 20 years, all thanks to the beekeeper Manolo Zerpa and of course the black bee.
Beekeepers from Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and La Palma are obliged to work with the Canary black bee in their hives.
Although it may seem that there is little vegetation for the bees to forage from on this arid island there is a varied array of flowers available for them, and as for any honey bee throughout the world they will work less on a cold day and more on hot days, and at all times keeping the hive temperature constant.
Sadly these bees as all bees around the globe, are threatened by global warming, prolonged droughts, and alteration of flowering processes along with the potential arrival of invasive species from Asia that feed on bees. Humans also are having a negative impact on these pollinators with the use of toxic products such as pesticides and fungicides. There is a project in place on the island in order to raise awareness about the importance of being careful with the use of these products.
Apparently the Canary black bee, due to their genetics and as well as a conscious effort to prevent other species from being imported from abroad and interbreeding, is very docile and in turn can be handled without gloves.
And as for the honey from these bees, well I’m off on a trip tomorrow to purchase what I’m sure will be some very tasty black bee honey.

14/01/2026

Time for some sun, time for Lanzarote and some chillaxing, with some plane spotting thrown into the mix.

27/12/2025

I know that this is the time of year when most of us are happily celebrating being with family, enjoying food, present giving and merriment. Can I ask if you could spare a thought to our neighbour who has been unfortunate to have lost everything in a house fire. If you can manage to donate to her Gofundme that would be fabulous. If you can spare any time in the coming weeks to support her to try and get her home back to some normality that would also be a big help.
Thank you in advance.

Hi, my name is David and I’m trying to raise help for my mum. She suffered a devastating house… David Burnside needs your support for Gill Burnside house fire

09/10/2025

The British Ceramics Biennial is on at the moment at the Spode Museum in Stoke on Trent until 19th October, it is well worth a visit and what better place to see the work of some leading contemporary ceramic artists and introduce the work of some new talent. All subject matter very interesting, some to like more than others for me, but still a lot of ideas have come out of this visit.
Did you know - Although the blue and white Willow Pattern was inspired by China it originated here in England by Thomas Minton. It has set characteristics that include; a pagoda structure, three figures on a bridge a figure on a boat, two flying birds and a weeping willow tree.

08/10/2025

Half listening to the radio one day this week whilst working my ears pricked up at the mention of a new artist on the block. Some may not be intrigued by this but I became extremely interested when the radio presenter mentioned that the artist in question was actually a terrible artist! “How rude,” I thought to myself and actually found myself shouting those very words at the radio. The presenter continued to introduce Jamie Lee Matthius, from Alsager in Cheshire and explained the reason why he actually is The Terrible Artist.

It all started in May 2024 when Jamie presented his wife with a picture of her that he had painted on canvas with poster paint, to celebrate their wedding day. Since his wife Kate shared this painting on line recently Jamie has received numerous commissions from the public all wanting to share in his terrible art. Jamie has been noted to say that it is actually bringing smiles to peoples faces, he says that they are finding it funny because his work is so bad. Jamie is no newcomer to the art of painting as he regularly paints with his stepdaughter and daughter who, along with Kate are quite the critics teasing him about his artwork.

So all of you budding artists out there keep painting and don’t give up, so as you can see you really don’t need to be a Michelangelo to be successful. There important thing is that if you enjoy what you are doing never stop you will come across your audience in time.

A big thank you to Andy for providing the self portrait and the drawing of which will most likely not be going up on my wall.
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08/10/2025

I found myself wondering what I should start having only 40 minutes left in the studio. Something small and quirky that wouldn’t eat too much into my next studio visit. I must have said these words to myself so many times having sketched so many ideas in my journal that I am desperate to begin. I decided on a prototype for some ideas that I would like to start very soon. I failed with the prototype which has now morphed into a thing! So I thought I’d share the progress of my thing with you. It isn’t finished as yet having to firstly be bisque fired before a final firing in the kiln when I have made a decision on what glazes I will use. At the moment the colours you can see are underglazes which I have used to highlight some areas of the now what I’m calling a project.