The perfect time of year - spring, when the tulips have bloomed and the garden bursts into life - the heavy rains still threatening the delicate blooms so their life is impermanent and a fleeting blousy beauty. In the seventeenth century people placed such an importance on the flower that: 'The tulip was,'the French horticulturalist Monstereul wrote, 'supreme among flowers in the same way that humans were lords of the animals, diamonds eclipsed all other precious stones, and the sun ruled the stars'. 'To have discovered the black tulip, to have seen it for a moment...then to lose it, to lose it forever!' - Alexandre Dumas, The Black Tulip. Oil, mixed media and gesso on board. 123 x 56 cm Find this work at Ffin Y Parc Gallery, Llanrwst, Wales until August 30th 2014