Gunther Keil

Currently I live with my family on 55 acres in Trumansburg, on the east side of Cayuga Lake in Central New York.  Here I raise sheep, bees and utilize the trees which grow on my land.

My designs are known in both the Old and New World.  They are in the permanent collection of the Toy Museum in Nuremberg, Germany and the Hartsville Museum in Hartsville, NY.  They have also been displayed in the “Toys For All Ages” show at the Smithsonian, and most recently in Paul J. Smith’s “Objects for Use/Handmade by Design” show at the American Craft Museum in New York City.  My designs have been published in Fine Woodworking Design Books, and The Woodworker’s Journal and in the book, “Objects for Use” published in conjunction with the exhibition at the American Craft Museum in 2001.  My work is found in craft stores and galleries throughout the United States and abroad.

I have always worked with animal shapes, Homo sapiens included.  I prefer to use the natural colors of wood to match natural forms, but occasionally add wood dyes for color accents.  Recently I have developed the concept of habitats, which portray animals in their regional environments.  All my work, especially the miniature habitats and my arks, express the fragility and exquisiteness of life, which is too easily forgotten in our technical world.