Sparrow Paws

(This blog entry was written by Windstone artist Helen Mishkin, or “Arlla” on the forum)

Very often, to often in my opinion, the beauty of a thing is judged by it’s rarity. If something is so common that you see it every day, it becomes unextraordinary. Similarly, things that are considered pests – which also tend to fall into the too-numerous-to-be-noticed category – are automatically branded ugly where as things that are desirous are automatically more lovely to our eye. Houseflies, weeds, pigeons – just a few of the things that our eyes usually pass over disinterestedly but which, on close inspection, can really be quite beautiful. Pigeons come in a plethora of beautiful colors, and some of the commonest have the most lovely purple and green iridescence. Many plants that we consider weeds have very lovely flowers or foliage, and the housefly that was bugging the heck out of me while I was trying to read the other day ended up having beautiful, intricate little white stripes down his back when I looked closely…

So, as part of my challenge to all of you to take another look at something you wouldn’t normally consider worth looking at, I’ve taken one of my very favorite little victims of the everyday – the common house sparrow. Which, so far as I can tell, is actually a type of finch and not a sparrow at all (they are, I believe, descended from European weaver finches.) I’ve always found these little guys to be positively lovely. The males especially, but the females too have their own soft, delicate appeal. Most of the time these little guys are just a blur, a brown bird amongst dozens that are waiting for you to drop crumbs while we eat our burger and fries in the outdoor food court. I would like to do what I can to make them more special than that.

And so, life sized griffinlets, modeled on a male and female house sparrow pair that have nested under my balcony for the last two years. I hope they manage to catch your eye…