An artist in Hucknall is offering free workshops for adults at her studio this month to encourage people to pursue art as a way of helping with their mental health.

Mojgan Mehran runs Mozh art studio on Annesley Road which only opened two months ago.

Speaking exclusively to Hucknall Nub News, she said: "I love many sorts of art but mainly I love painting. I really am enjoying it, it it's like a therapy really. It has helped with my mental health.

"If people are lonely, or they can't do any physical activity, or they've got depression, just painting takes you to another world. It's like a yoga, you just go to another world. I am there to encourage them to carry on. Some people in my class never knew they could paint and now they are, and they really are enjoying it."

Mrs Mehran has been interested in art all of her life and has a degree in graphic design from Tehran Azad University in Iran as well as a degree in Design for Film and Television from Nottingham Trent University.

She is now offering a month of free weekly sessions as a trial period so that people can decide if is for them. Once the free trial ends, the cost of the classes is £43 per month, with one session per week, however there is no obligation to continue once the trial finishes.

The sessions run Tuesday to Saturday between 10:30 and 4:30. All materials are provided free of charge except for canvases.

Mrs Mehran's husband has run the takeaway business Pizza Town, on Watnall Road since 2005 giving the couple a long-standing link with the town. This is one of the key reasons that she felt compelled to give something back to the community.

"For 16 years I have been involved with people in Hucknall, I'm just loving it, people here are so nice.

"I have been suffering from mental health before, the painting has helped me so much. I'm hoping that I will provide the same services for other people to come and enjoy themselves and just to give something back to these lovely people of Hucknall."

For more information about Mrs Mehran's studio and her work you can visit her website here .