Madeleine Lewis can get a little stressed out at work.

The Groton accountant represents people defending themselves against the Internal Revenue Service, “so it’s stressful because it matters so much, because it can make or break people’s lives if I represent them well enough,” she said.

So an evening where she can paint with watercolors while acoustic music plays in the background is just about ideal.

The Groton Department of Parks and Recreation offers programs in arts and education, boating, aquatics, dance, fitness and sports among its options. Lewis enrolled in one of its new programs, “Stress Free Paint Night,” offered for the first time this fall on Tuesdays at William Seely School.

“I wanted it to be somewhere that adults could come together and just relax and get away from every day stresses,” said Heather Yeitz, who proposed the program. It’s not an instructional painting class, but a chance for adults to paint quietly and experiment with watercolors without worrying about how it might turn out in the end.

Deborah and Ragnar Miller, of Mystic, took the class together.

“We knew it wasn’t an instructional class. We just wanted to have fun,” Deborah Miller said. “It’s kind of a date night.”

The “stress free” aspect also had appeal. Ragnar Miller works as an electrical tester at Electric Boat, and Deborah Miller is an educational assistant at a program for children and adolescents struggling with psychiatric issues or substance abuse.

“We definitely have jobs that have different stresses and we’re just looking at ways to spend time together and relax,” she said. “It was a good way for us to get out of the house and do something.”

Ragnar Miller commented that the water he was painting looked a more green than blue.

“So far, I’m exactly backwards, but I’m OK with that,” he said.

Lewis used to paint, and realized it had been too long.

“I haven’t painted since my daughter was born 16 years ago,” she said. Lewis took over her father’s accounting business after he retired and became a professional painter on Cape Cod. Now she thinks she’ll paint more; it keeps her in balance.

“I thought, ‘what do I want to do in this life of mine,’” she said. “I want to paint again.”

d.straszheim@theday.com