Elephants, and Life Is Short

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Elephants can paint.

Some paint in broad, graceful strokes; others dab. In three years' time, an elephant can be taught to paint a flower.

The effect is wondrous to behold. And yet I ask you:

Why teach an elephant to paint?

Comments

  1. Greg ScheerApril 14, 2011 at 10:35 AM

    If you owned an elephant, you'd understand.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amy PhillipsApril 14, 2011 at 4:41 PM

    Why don't you teach our bunny to paint?

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownApril 17, 2011 at 10:49 AM

    How can one own an elephant?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amy PhillipsApril 17, 2011 at 1:52 PM

    I don't know. But the minute I find out, I'm getting one and putting him right in front of the piano.

    ReplyDelete
  5. thrownfreeApril 18, 2011 at 8:57 PM

    Oh, lovely lovely elephants. They are such human-like creatures in the way they care for each other (or humans at their best, I suppose). Maybe the elephants really enjoy painting.


    Of course the cynic in me says, it's because we love to personify animals and make them like us (I, too, obviously), especially if it raises a whole lot of money (for a good cause, of course: elephants).

    Alas, I do not think the bunny in question has enough brain to paint. I guess you could cover the bunny IN paint and roll it over a canvas. You could call the piece something goofy for Easter and sell it for enough to buy another bunny. How did this comment get so long?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Amy PhillipsApril 18, 2011 at 10:04 PM

    How did this comment get so long, you ask? How did I get so many comments on this post, is what I ask! I'm going to write about elephants more often.

    I read a book to my kids on elephants being taught to paint. I came away thinking, Wow, that's really cool, and also, Wow, people could be doing many other things with their time. Fortunately, the author appears to teach humans to paint, as well.

    And as a side note, my neighbor once bought t-shirts painted by elephants, for her kids. She said they were really cool except for one glaring problem: the shirts never stopped smelling like elephants.

    ReplyDelete

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