Walking out the other day into the back garden I felt the first warm rays of spring sunshine. In the garden, orange, red and violet crocuses with deep sap-green leaves were in full bloom, and a beautiful Red Admiral butterfly - which must have just woken from its hibernating slumber - flew past me and alighted on the white rear wall for a few minutes. I was struck by the sheer beauty of this scene, and I have tried to capture the essence of its memory in this oil painting I have called the 'First Pulse of Spring'.