Rails End Gallery and Arts Centre, Haliburton

10/14/2026

PAINTING PROMPTS — WEEK 7
Cut it up. Show up. Brew something new.

This week we're experimenting with familiar materials, building creative habits and discovering beauty in unexpected places.

1. CUT IT UP!
Give an old painting a new life.
Have a painting that just didn't work? Don't throw it away! Cut it into shapes, rearrange the pieces and create a collage. Use acrylic medium to glue everything in place.
TIP: Look for interesting colours, textures and brushstrokes rather than recognizable images. Sometimes the best part of a painting is just a small piece of it!

2. MAKE A DATE WITH YOURSELF
Good habits begin with showing up.
Choose one day this week and make an appointment to paint. Put it in your calendar. Keep it, even if you only have 20 minutes.
TIP: Building a creative habit is about consistency, not productivity. Same day, same time, every week can turn good intentions into a rewarding routine.

3. COFFEE BREAK!
Your morning brew has artistic possibilities.
Save a little strong leftover coffee and try painting with it! Dilute it with water to explore a range of warm sepia tones, from pale washes to rich browns.
TIP: Sepia is wonderful for nostalgic landscapes, shadows and tonal studies. Work from light to dark, allowing each layer to dry before adding another.

10/10/2026

Pick up your copy of Our Homes Magazine
at Rails End Gallery this fall and check out our Plein Air Haliburton ad on p. 39

OUR HOMES Magazine - Celebrating Life at Home

10/10/2026

Now at Rails End - We are ine of the activity spots for the Canadian Student Leadership Conference!

10/07/2026

10/07/2026

Painting Prompts — Follow along ...

This week think a little less about making a “good painting” and a little more about what happens around the act of painting.

PAINT A POSTCARD
Make a small painting on postcard-sized paper. On the back, write yourself a few words of encouragement — the sort of thing you might say to a friend but forget to say to yourself. Add a stamp and mail it home. A small act of creativity, sent to yourself, with love.

SILENCE IS GOLDEN
There’s a term usually associated with young children: parallel play. Two children play happily alongside one another, each absorbed in what they’re doing. Why should they have all the fun?

Try painting with a friend without feeling obliged to fill the silence. Work side by side. Look up occasionally. Share the view. Let companionship be enough.

MIX & MATCH
Choose a colour you can see around you — a turning maple leaf, weathered wood, lake water, a shadow. Now try to mix its match.

Don’t worry about naming the colour. Instead ask: warmer or cooler? lighter or darker? brighter or duller? Keep adjusting until the colour on your palette belongs in the world you’re looking at.

Three small experiments. No masterpiece required.

Get out there while the weather is good. There’s always time to live creatively.

10/02/2026

Now in its third year, En Plein Air Haliburton, is a friendly art competition, started by Rails End Gallery in 2024 as a complement to ongoing activities and encourage greater participation in open-air painting across the region.

In this reel, shot live in 2024 at the Gallery's inaugural Plein Air Haliburton exhibition, Rod Prouse offers his thoughts on finding one's voice as an artist.

Rod was the first winner of Best in Show $500 prize for "Ditch Flowers". The 2025 winner was Kelly Whyte, for "Ritchie Falls Rumble".

Wonder who it will be this year?

Fleming College - Haliburton School of Art + Design
Ontario's Highlands
Our Homes Magazine

Ontario Culture Days

10/01/2026

A gateway to regional craft and visual art, the Gallery Shop at Rails End invites you stop in during studio tour season. Find work by Studio Tour member artists and others from the Haliburton Highlands.

A proud supporter of The Studio Tour Haliburton.

Accessible. Free. Friendly.
We look forward to meeting you.

10/01/2026

On our mind today, especially.

09/30/2026

SHADES look cool.
Do you know why things look so hot when you're wearing them?

By reducing reflected glare from leaves, polarized lenses reveal colours. Reds become richer, yellows glow, greens wow. A note of caution: the contrast between sunlit leaves and shadow may affect your "style", but it's worth the view.

🎨 🎨 🎨 🎨 🎨
MIX BEFORE YOU PAINT
Try this:
Before you begin, choose three colours from the autumn landscape. Mix a bright, a muted and a darker version of each.

Now paint a small study using only those nine mixtures, with minor adjustments as needed.

Can you make your brightest autumn colours sing by surrounding them with quieter ones?

Let Laurie know in the comments if you've tried any of her painting prompts, or intend to soon...

09/29/2026

Simplify composition and see colour as it really is for instantly better paintings.