This piece is part of my ongoing series of observations from Hawaii.

I painted this after hearing the humpback whales singing in the ocean while swimming the other day, and I also included the Naupaka flowers which grow along the shoreline.

According to Hawaiian legend, two young lovers were forbidden to marry long ago. One fled to the Hawaiian mountains, and one fled to the sea, where they both died. After dying, Naupaka began growing at both the sea and the mountains. When brought together, the flowers make a perfect circle- a sign of the couple’s eternal love.