When people find out I’ve been a working artist for over a decade, they often ask what my highest achievement is.

Elbows.

I always just say…Elbows.

I stand in the back of a gallery show, anonymous and unrecognized, watching people go around the room to view the work.

Art is an expression of an artist…yes. But at its most successful, it is about the viewer and what you experience. What does it make you feel?

And really…

Don’t we all just want someone to be a participant and witness to the greatest moments of our lives?

I’ve seen children on a playground looking every two minutes and begging their parent: “Watch this jump! Did you see?”

Every kid runs a little faster when someone they love is watching them zoom in their brand new shoes.

But it isn’t just kids. I just saw the video of Jasmine Sawyers, getting a world record in long jump. Despite being an accomplished adult, you can see her scanning the audience immediately afterward until she finds her mom in the crowd. And that’s when her moment became real, and the tears start to form in her eyes.

Our lives are richer when there is a witness to our experience.

What is my greatest accomplishment with my art? It’s the elbows.

From the back of the room, it is easy to see these moments: When someone approaches a piece that moves them, they start nudging their partner with an elbow. That’s it. This image has finally provided inspiration for the emotion that have been too difficult to put into words.

That’s the highest achievement to me. Giving another human the opportunity to have a deeper understanding of themselves and also a witness to this process: the spark of their understanding, verbal and visual explanation of complex concepts, and a deepening of a relationship with self and others.

Elbows.

Honestly…

It’s the elbows for me.