Halong Bay

"Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air..." Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Halong Bay in Vietnam is just that, sunshine, sea and wild air.  It's a surreal place where the water meets the land with a dotting of tiny islands before it fully connects.  Halong Halong translates as ‘where the dragon descends into the sea’,  According to legend the islands of Halong Bay were created by a great dragon from the mountains who charged toward the coast gouging out valleys and crevasses with it's flailing tail.  When it finally plunged into the sea, the area filled with water, leaving only the pinnacles visible. For sure the dragon just wanted to swim in the sea and drink the wild air and in doing this we were forever blessed with the trail he left behind. 

This series was inspired by a trip I took to Vietnam in April of 2004.  We took a boatride on a beatiful sunny day through Halong Bay, explored on of the island caves and even swam in the sea.  Ralph Waldo Emerson would be so proud, we lived in the sunshine, swam in teh sea and drank the wild air. For this 8 painting series I used photos I took and postcards I bought in Halong Bay as my inspiration so that I might never truly forget the beauty of Halong Bay.