I’ve been playing hooky this summer. 

Instead of painting, I indulged myself and did a lot of tinkering in the garden. My time there was rewarded with zinnias and dahlias taller than me, and weeds that strived to be the same. I battled yellow jackets, mosquitos and biting flies and came out relatively unscathed.

The past few years, various obstacles have stymied my annual plan to get myself out there so this year I made it a priority. I had longed for a summer of leisure, of getting my hands dirty and bringing armloads full of flowers into the house. I did that. However, it cost me.

I started this painting in April! It took me five months of scattershot sessions to finally have it ready for prime time. I agonized about the background and changed it a few times. I revised the composition too. It didn’t really come together for me until watering the patio pots became less urgent and the days started getting shorter.

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My senior year in high school my bestie and I decided to slip out of school. There was some kind of special program going on and no one would know we were gone so, in our girls’ school uniforms (!) we climbed into her completely inconspicuous GINORMOUS Lincoln Continental and cruised through town where we nearly ran down one of the school groundskeepers. After that we kind of had a hard time finding anybody (as in boys) to hang out with. No texts or geolocation in the late ‘60s. A good story to be able to tell now but not sure it was worth all the angst back then.

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Despite my lack of productivity, I think this time playing hooky was worth it, even if I feel a tad guilty. I am renewed and it gave me time to make plans for new paintings to come and I am still bringing in armloads of zinnias!

Painting: Playing Hooky © Lissa Banks 2025