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The latest creation of Vadym Kotlyarov and Kostyantyn Krytuzkiy is a ginger-colored cat in a maple tree by Zoloti Vorota metro station. Above is their earlier sculpture, located in Chkalov park in the center of Kyiv. Iryna Prymachyk Nature makes for useful art mediums for city aesthetics

There are people who see opportunities where others see disaster. Kyiv chops down dozens of ancient trees every year, losing its green face and gaining ugly stumps instead.

But a group of art students decided to give the stumps a second life by turning them into cheerful sculptures.

“I call myself a funny sculptor for all the things I do with my own hands to create a positive mood,” said Vadym Kotlyarov, a student at the Kyiv Arts Academy. “I often see people start smiling when passing by my sculptures. This sort of reaction is the main thing for me. By smiling, they support my talent.”

Kotlyarov is one of several creators of funny wooden animals, fairytale creatures and insects dotted around downtown Kyiv.

The latest creation of Kotlyarov and his friend, Kostyantyn Krytuzkiy, is a small sculpture of a cat in a maple tree by Zoloti Vorota metro station. Few people notice it because the cat is sitting high up above the ground. But when they do, they almost always get their cell phones out to take a quick picture of the curious smiling feline.

The idea of turning old trees that need chopping into city sculptures first came to Volodymyr Kolinko, vice president of Landscape Initiative, a municipal organization. Travelling across Europe, he came across sculptors using old tree trunks as precious material for their work, improving the city at the same time. “I decided to steal the idea for Ukraine’s good,” Kolinko said.

He made a deal with Kyivzelenbud, a municipal company in charge of park and lawn upkeep, to not saw down old dry trees completely but leave trunks instead that can be sculpted. He then sought out Kotlyarov and Krytuzkiy for the job.

Their first works were a Scythian woman by Zoloti Vorota metro station, then a dragonfly, a fish and flying crocodile in Chkalov Park in the city center. It takes the young artists between a week and two months to finish one piece, and they do it all for free. “We work for free because the main goal for us is to help Kyiv look like a European city,” Kotlyarov said.

By the time their sculptures are finished, local residents know the artistic duo quite well, although misunderstandings have arisen. Halyna Ivanyzya, a local resident, wanted to call the police because she thought a couple of vandals were destroying a tree. “When I first noticed a guy cutting a tree near my house, I thought he was harming a good tree to take the wood for his purposes. I even wanted to call the police to arrest him, but he explained everything and I started to look forward to see what it was going to be,” Ivanyzya said.

Kids are the artistic duo’s greatest fans. The sculpture of Buratino, a fairytale wooden boy like Pinocchio, half-way down Honchara Street, has been a particular success. Not only do people take pictures of it during the day, they steal bits of it at night. Buratino is the only sculpture with detachable elements, the arms. They are joined with the trunk of his body by wooden pegs that can be removed with some effort. And that’s precisely what trophy lovers do, giving the artists regular headaches, and local kids – much sorrow.

“When Buratino was made, I told my seven-year old granddaughter to come see me and take a picture beside it. When in a week’s time she came back, some dolts had stolen one of his hands and my grandchild started to cry, feeling sorry for the toy,” said Natalia Sokolovska, a local resident.

The artists themselves said that Buratino’s troublesome arms along with some other mistakes were made due to inexperience. “I have never worked with wood before. I got used to working with clay. I needed some practice and, obviously, I made some mistakes in my earlier sculptures,” Krytuzkiy said.

But while some residents find their mistakes and experiments amusing, other get annoyed and say they would be better-off with new trees planted instead of the old ones sculpted to look like bizarre creatures.

“I understand they are students and need practice, but I do not understand why they are getting their practice in the center of Kyiv,” said Mykola Sokolovskiy, a local resident. He said some of the earlier sculptures should be chopped down, while artists should work harder to avoid confusing images and other oddities. “When my grandchildren saw Krytuzkiy’s crows in the tree next to our house, they asked why the crows are white and why they are living in a starling-house. It was what he made, but how I should explain such ridiculousness to my grandchildren? That the crows are a little bit ‘cuckoo’ or what?”

Krytuzkiy agrees that some of the criticism is deserved. “It is always easier to judge others’ works not doing anything oneself. I know some of my sculptures may look strange, but at least I am doing something to make people smile,” he said.