Rive l'Isle



Bridge over the Rive l'Isle
Coulaures, France
Photo by W. F. Bellais



Bridge over the Rive l'Isle
Coulaures, France
Mixed Media: water color and Ink
by W. F. Bellais

Bridges can be fascinating. Often the big and majestic bridges such as the Brooklyn Bridge or the Golden Gate Bridge are not only impressive feats of engineering but also great works of art.

It is the small country bridges that often get my attention. I am thinking of bridges off the beaten track and spanning small rivers or creeks. In the mid-west of the United States covered bridges are eye catchers. There is only one that I know of nearby but up in Iowa, just two counties north, the bridges of Madison County are famous. Although a covered bridge is only  a few miles away, I have never seen one.

A bridge thousands of miles from home, however, was the subject of a painting and photograph in 2009. The bridge crossed the Rive l'Isle at the village of Coulaures in southwestern France. Coulaures and the Rive l'Isle are part of the Perigord Region that includes some of the most beautiful countryside anywhere in the world.

For several days in September 2009 I stood on the banks of the river and studied the bridge. Apparently very old and well constructed, this bridge also reflected imaginative engineering and artistic beauty.

The bridge over the Rive l'Isle connected the newer section of Coulaures with the old village that included an antique chateau, ancient church, and old homes dating back to the seventeenth century and maybe earlier. The new Coulaures was functional and modern, but it did not have the character and interest that the old village had. I was glad we were living for a brief time in the grand chateau of the older part of Coulaures.

Being there engaged my imagination and I wanted to keep the memory in my mind forever. So, I painted several water colors of the bridge and took several photographs. I am sharing one photo and one painting with you today.