Last Saturday, ten women gathered upstairs at Gallery One for Mimosa Saturday, where they painted Christmas themed canvases while sipping on orange juice and champagne.

The class was taught by Mary Duke, who traveled all the way from Snohomish. Duke volunteers frequently at Gallery One; she substitutes children’s art classes and more recently, taught some adult classes.

“The class itself is just fun,” Duke said. “I just love being around people who want to create. I just love being involved in the creative process and helping people realize how to go forward with art.”

Duke grew up in Ellensburg and used to volunteer at Gallery One when she was younger. She reconnected with the gallery when her daughter, Hayley, who assisted Duke at Mimosa Saturday, attended Central.

“I have a really close tie to Ellensburg and Gallery One. It’s crazy how much the gallery has grown,” Duke said.

Duke teaches 4th grade art in Mukilteo, but she enjoys being able to work with the adults at Gallery One as well.

“Mary is very open to people learning the techniques and then taking it where they want to go,” Becky Parmenter, education program coordinator at Gallery One, said.

In the class, each person was given a canvas. The process included several steps of painting and drying before they decorated the canvas. For a holiday theme, the participants put a stag silhouette on the canvas and added words, beads and other crafts to their pieces.

“It’s a good way to meet people in the community. I took the print making class last winter and that was pretty fun. This one was a little more relaxed, a little bit more free form,” Brittany Holmes said.

Holmes is a Central alumna, with a master’s in chemistry. She said she uses art as stress relief from her job at the department of agriculture in Yakima.

“It’s a never ending science project, so it’s nice to have a release,” Holmes said.

Holmes has grown up with art. Her mom is an interior designer, her aunt has a photography card art business and her uncle makes metal sculptures.

Holmes thought the most enjoyable part of the class was learning a new type of art and the most challenging part was not overthinking the project.

“It kinda forces you to take a step back, put it on the wall or hold it up and look at what you’ve done. See if it needs more or less. Usually less,” Holmes said.

Holmes thought that Duke’s overall teaching style was very relaxed.

“Which is how art should be, at least this type of art, it’s not really rigid,” Holmes said. “There are certain steps and techniques, but you get to do what you want.”

For Parmenter, the hardest part of the project was the decision making process. She said that she is used to taking a long time on art projects.

“Mary knows a lot about color and textured surfaces,” Parmenter said. “That’s one of the reasons I wanted to take [the class] from Mary, because when she wants to discover or do something, she just keeps testing the limits to how far you can go with it. She’s really an inspiration.”

One of Parmenter’s favorite parts of the process was getting to look at everybody’s pieces as they were being created. She also liked that she used art materials she has never used before.

“Now that I know a little bit more of what we’re doing, I’ll be able to work on my piece more than just trying to just work with the material. I can take it further and think about my piece ahead of time and explore using more colors,” Parmenter said.

Gallery One offers a variety of art classes for people of all ages and there will be another Mimosa Saturday at Gallery One on Dec. 13.

“All of those individuals got out of their box. They didn’t just do what my demo was,” Duke said. “They put their own unique twist on the subject matter.”