Happily Ever After – Cover 

Editor: This is "Happily Ever After," a cover painting by Scott Gustafson, done in oil. It feels like… well, chaos, but in the best possible way. Like a storybook exploded! So much happening, all at once. What jumps out at you? Curator: You're right; it *is* an explosion of narratives! A beautiful kind of chaos, isn’t it? My eye is immediately drawn to the giant striding confidently through the scene, almost like he’s stitching the whole thing together with each step. And notice how the fairy tale characters aren't just *posing*; they're all in motion, mid-story. What kind of tales do *you* think they are taken from? Editor: Hmm, Red Riding Hood, Cinderella maybe… is that Jack from the Beanstalk riding on the giant's shoulder? But there are so many others I don't recognize! Curator: Exactly! Gustafson isn't just illustrating one story. He's suggesting a whole world *made* of stories. The way the characters overlap, spill into each other's space… It’s like he's saying all these narratives are interconnected, flowing into each other. Which feels very true to childhood, doesn't it? Those free associations and juxtapositions? Do you see any parallels in this painting? Editor: Yes! The figures almost seem to jump off of the canvas, and they interact in unexpected ways! I wonder how he keeps everything so balanced, with so much going on? Curator: A good point, indeed! With the sweeping movement from left to right it unifies them all. Even the light feels like its coming from everywhere at once, softening the boundaries. It pulls it together to tell the biggest story of them all. Editor: I see that. It’s like…a visual metaphor for how stories shape our understanding of the world! Curator: Precisely! It's more than just decoration. It's a vibrant celebration of the messy, beautiful power of narrative! Editor: That’s given me a whole new way of looking at children’s illustration.