Artist Jan Finn-Duffy has been a painter for 20 years and has taught watercolor classes for 10 years, and now she’s opened a studio gallery on Church Street in Mathews.

Finn-Duffy said she plans to teach small classes with a maximum of six to eight students of all skill levels in the first-floor storefront next door to 5 Star Oriental Medicine. She said she teaches watercolor techniques to provide a foundation, then encourages her students to work on projects that interest them.

“Watercolor is not as unforgiving as people think it is,” said Finn-Duffy. “If you have a passion for it, I can teach you. Watercolor is something you have to do to progress.”

Classes are particularly good for people who find they can’t bring themselves to paint at home alone but enjoy painting with others, she said.

Many of Finn-Duffy’s students haven’t picked up a paintbrush since high school, she said, but almost all of them are able to master the medium well enough to be happy with their wo...