Chapter 3: The Painted World, from The Painter Who Lived Inside the Painting / Not Art Theory by Everybody the Artist
As the brush touched the glass, it was as if the painter’s colors began to SPILL into the world beyond the frame.
A sweep of red, and the grass outside seemed to BLUSH in a whole new hue.
A wash of blue over the cows in the meadow, and suddenly they wore an impossible shade.
The painter smiled.
What a curious thing, to see the world through this layer of different colors.
Another idea stirred in the painter’s mind.
What if the grass really was red…
What if cows were really blue…
They walked to the door.
And stepped outside.
They expected to find the world just as it always was.
But when they looked around, they couldn’t believe their eyes…
The world was painted, just as they had painted it.
The grass beneath their feet? Totally red. The cows grazing nearby? Undeniably blue.
The painter laughed aloud.
If painting on the glass could change the world I see…
What would happen if I painted right here, on the world itself?
Without hesitation, they dipped their brush once more.
They began to paint the trees, and turned their leaves purple. They brushed the air and made the sky swirl with green.
The painter kept painting until the whole meadow bloomed in countless new and wonderful shades.
And then, the painter thought,
If I can see the world this way…
Maybe others can too.
With a joyful heart, the painter tucked their palette under one arm, their brush in the other, and set off down the road.
They had a message to share:
The world is a big painting!
And we are the painters.
