Sparrow —
by Martin Cooney

Description:

Sparrow may not be one of the most dramatic of my Hand Carved Marble Bowls but she is certainly one of the most cheerful. At the time I was carving her summer was reaching its full height and the birds were busily gobbling up any and everything they could find in the Colorado Rocky Mountain English Country Garden (please visit martincooney.com in order to make sense out of that!). My fondness for sparrows springs from the abiding jolliness that sees them not only sharing the birdbath in the most accommodating fashion but actually shuffling aside to make way for newcomers. Contrast this most communal behavior with the squawking and pecking that accompanies most bird flocks and they don’t have to do much else to win my abiding affection. But it’s not just the common respect these friendly little birds show to one another that wins my lasting admiration but the sheer zest for life they exude… hopping here there and everywhere in the most cheerfully optimistic manner and always making the most of whatever it might be they stumble across. So as this modest little bowl gradually took shape I couldn't help myself from incorporating several of the characteristics embodied by this most plucky and oft overlooked little bird. Although a modest bowl in comparison to some she packs a useful 23lbs due to weight of stone I left in her base in order to offset the jaunty angles she impishly flaunts in every direction. As with all my Marble Collection sculpture Sparrow has here Serial Number etched into the underside of her base, along with my mark of authenticity.