Aspiring artists will have the opportunity to hone their skills and escape for a few hours with painting workshops at Laura I. Gallery.

The Abbey Road, Barking gallery is offering painting workshops every Thursday and Saturday for anyone interested in exploring their creative side.

The workshops will run twice a week and give the community the ability to express feelings, change attitudes, and develop personal goals and skills through painting.

One of gallery director Laura Iosifescu’s biggest goals for the workshops is to inspire people to create.

“I really want to make a difference,” Laura said. “I really want to engage the public in the arts and help people find salvation in art.”

The Thursday workshops will focus on the experience of painting and will teach painters to trust their intuition.

According to Laura, experiencing painting can have large effects on people’s lives and can allow them to escape their problems and gives them a sense of freedom.

She added that one specific way painting helps people is when it comes to depression.

“Painting is known to cure depression,” she said. “It improves the quality of life and gives people a greater sense of purpose in their lives.”

The Saturday workshops will focus on the fundamental skills needed for painting, taking students outside to get a better understanding of the environment around them.

“When we walk outside, we see the same street, the same city, the same people,” Laura said.

“When we stop to appreciate what’s around us, we see new features and details we hadn’t noticed before.”

Laura said the workshops are not about technique or training. Instead, she wants them to be free to express themselves and play with different colours and shapes in whatever way they want.

“Each person’s journey will be totally different,” Laura said. “But I want everyone who comes to be as fulfilled as I am when I paint.”

The workshops cost from £15 and have limited space of only 10 painters per session, so Laura encourages people to book early.

For more information on how to register, visit lauraigallery.com.