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Kemper's Birds
 Claude Kemper grew up on a 150 acre farm on Tanner Creek Road in
Gilmer County. For more than a quarter of a century, he took pleasure hand-carving birds that he knew and loved
as a child.
Kemper carved all of his birds from basswood, then
mounted them on driftwood collected from WV lake
shores. As his carvings grew in popularity, orders began to
backlog for three or four years. In 2000, Claude Kemper donated
a complete collection of his 45 hand-carved and painted West
Virginia birds, featuring a one-of-a-kind centerpiece titled
"Feathers of Yellow." Housed on the second floor of GSC's Robert F. Kidd Library in
lighted cases, the
gallery is now the only complete collection of Claude's birds
on public display. Some collectors will never have a complete
collection, as Kemper passed away in 2003.
The GSC collection is
displayed in specially designed cases made of local, wild, cherry
wood.
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The library's
display of Kemper's Birds includes "Birds of My Hollow,"
a book which illustrates and details
the birds in Kemper's collection.
The book's author,
a Gilmer County resident, has her own web site at:
WVTravelers.com
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