Firstly, is this about the tactical objective, or what you'd do if you managed to get there?
If it's just the tactical objective, you'd need to find someone on the inside who would be willing and able to convince everybody else that you were the person for the job - and that includes the HR end of things as well. It would be easier, actually, for that person to sell a new position than to get you into a position which has the requirement of a PhD.
If it's the long-term you're considering, though, some of the other posters have pointed it out: you don't acquire the skills simply by reading about the subject (although reading about the subject is an immense part of the PhD). You must also contribute something to the subject, in a particularly rigorous manner - that creation, in other words, will be measured not simply by its outcome but by the process used and the documentation of that process produced.
The PhD isn't about understanding a field (that's a Master's). Rather, it's about understanding how to conduct research in a particular field, on top of having that mastery of the field. What you're seeing when you read papers is only the content of the field, not the process by which that was generated.
You have essentially said, "I've looked at a lot of paintings, and I really like paintings, and I know about different styles of paintings" ... but you have not painted.
If it's just the tactical objective, you'd need to find someone on the inside who would be willing and able to convince everybody else that you were the person for the job - and that includes the HR end of things as well. It would be easier, actually, for that person to sell a new position than to get you into a position which has the requirement of a PhD.
If it's the long-term you're considering, though, some of the other posters have pointed it out: you don't acquire the skills simply by reading about the subject (although reading about the subject is an immense part of the PhD). You must also contribute something to the subject, in a particularly rigorous manner - that creation, in other words, will be measured not simply by its outcome but by the process used and the documentation of that process produced.
The PhD isn't about understanding a field (that's a Master's). Rather, it's about understanding how to conduct research in a particular field, on top of having that mastery of the field. What you're seeing when you read papers is only the content of the field, not the process by which that was generated.
You have essentially said, "I've looked at a lot of paintings, and I really like paintings, and I know about different styles of paintings" ... but you have not painted.