Blinding Bridge Light

Blinding Bridge Light - Strolling at Sunset

In the quaint village area of Mystic, CT, a 1920 vintage bascule bridge spans the Mystic River, and carries vehicle and pedestrians within the tourist district of town.   This amazing bridge is opened for five minutes at forty minutes past the hour for six months of the year.   The concrete filled counterweights hoist the 85 foot movable span into the air allowing boat traffic to pass beneath.   Rather than feeling inconvenienced for having to wait, most people, including us, seemed truly fascinated with this engineering marvel, a wholly mechanical spectacle in an (overly) digital world.

Toward dusk we began to walk over the bridge to find the spice shop we had spotted on our map.   The sun was directly ahead, a golden, blinding type of glare, and it was casting long figure shadows toward us.   The light and shadows on the bridge made fascinating shadow effects, and the sun obliterated the bridge crossbeams, creating a blindspot effect that I have tried to mimic in the painting.