An impressionistic oil painting of a dark steel railway bridge crossing over a calm river, with its structure reflected clearly in the water. Autumn trees in shades of yellow, gold, and olive line the right bank, while the sky above is pale blue with soft clouds. The overall atmosphere is quiet and contemplative.

First Autumn in London

2024 · Oil on Canvas
London, Ontario, Canada

An impressionistic oil painting of a dark steel railway bridge crossing over a calm river, with its structure reflected clearly in the water. Autumn trees in shades of yellow, gold, and olive line the right bank, while the sky above is pale blue with soft clouds. The overall atmosphere is quiet and contemplative.

Although this painting was exhibited at the Western Fair in September 2025 and received third place,
the image itself belongs to an earlier moment.

September 2024.

Our first autumn after moving to London —
and our first autumn in Canada.

Everything felt new, and quietly unfamiliar.
The air was cooler, the light longer, the trees turning gold in ways I had never seen before.

We were walking along York Street,
passing the Thames River,
when the reflection stopped me.

The bridge.
The water.
The stillness.

It was so beautiful that I didn’t want to just photograph it.
I wanted to paint it —
to slow it down,
to stay inside that moment a little longer.

This became one of the first paintings I created after arriving in London, Ontario.

Not a landmark.
Not an event.

Just a quiet afternoon walk,
when a new place gently began
to feel like home.