Since last Monday, an artist has been busy making tree sculptures in the provincial capital and will continue until the end of this week.

It’s not hard to spot Gintas upon arriving at Con Smith Park, just follow the chainsaw and the gaze of the onlooker looking in his direction. He’s cordoned off from the world by red protective barriers and a pair of ear muffs, both of which are safety measures that don’t stop Gintas from chatting with the park’s regulars. The Lithuanian resident sets down his chainsaw, slides his ear muffs around his neck and removes his gloves upon seeing a tripod and camera approaching.

“You must be Gintas,” asks the Celt.

“Yes.”

The answer comes in a heavy, confident accent.

The sun sets on Wednesday morning. The heron, otter, fish, owls and hands with ‘Make A Wish’ engraved above in the white grains of ash make you squint when you look at them. It doesn’t stop you from admiring the work of Gintas Poderys.

The “twenty-year-old Donegal man” reveals that wood carving doesn’t run in his family and he doesn’t live in the countryside to get inspiration for his lifelike nature carvings.

His imagination was approved by the Cavan Tidy Towns Committee, which recruited Gintas following a review by horticulturalist Bernie McGovern, which found that the vast majority of ash trees in public spaces in Cavan have suffered deaths.

The disease would mean the trees could fall, posing a safety risk to the town, according to Paul Lynch, secretary of the Cavan Tidy Towns Committee. This, combined with increasing storms, means the area’s trees are at risk.

“They die and it becomes a health and safety issue,” he explained.

Paul said the committee was “stunned” when they heard the trees were to be cut down and were “puzzled” about what they could do to give the trees a new lease of life.

Instead of cutting them down and chopping them up for firewood, the committee decided to make the best of a bad situation. They reduced the trees to a six-foot stump, creating a kind of blank canvas for a sculptor.

After seeing the quality of his work on social media, Tidy Towns staff contacted Gintas.

“Essentially these trees are being given a second life,” says Paul. A quick glance at Gintas’ profile tells you that he is a hugely talented woodcarver. From donkeys to Buddhas to all forms of wildlife, his work can be found in public spaces across Ireland.

Gintas travelled all the way from Letterkenny and worked in tree surgery but stopped for health reasons. However, Gintas couldn’t put his chainsaw down, he missed the buzz of the bark. He used his forestry chainsaw training and took up sculpting six years ago, securing commissions all over the country, from Barberstown Castle in Kildare to Foxford in Mayo, Sligo, Belfast and now Cavan.

“It was a small hobby, and then more chainsaws and more tools were added.

“It was too big to be a hobby, so I registered as an artist and work on that full-time,” he said, revealing that he can’t do a sketch on a piece of paper but is blessed with a “3D imagination”.

Gintas sculpted in glorious weather at Con Smith Park on Wednesday, as spectators admired the animals that took shape before them. He works on a range of pieces, from wildlife to more sentimental, memorial pieces. In Cavan, he has been working on preventing the spread of ash dieback.

“To prevent the disease (ash dieback) from spreading, they have to be cut down,” Gintas said.

“Instead of cutting down the tree completely, you can give it a second life, you can make sculptures out of it and they will stay there for a while.

“People like it, kids like it,” he said.

He himself also enjoys the process.

“I used to consider such trees only as firewood,” he said, referring to the golden-brown ash stump in front of him.

“Now I can even take a small piece (of wood) and make something out of it.”

Gintas last week carved two tree stumps in Con Smith Park, one that had fallen to the wind and another that had suffered from ash dieback. This week he is carving five more along Drumalee Manor Road between Drumalee and St Patrick’s College. What form these sculptures will take remains a secret, closely guarded by Gintas and Tidy Town committee secretary Paul Lynch.

“There’s a little bit of a historic surprise coming up,” Paul revealed of the trees between Drumalee and St Pat’s.

“I’m not going to tell you what it is, but it will be a little local history lesson.”

The committee has not yet seen any sketches of what the work will look like, but has every confidence in Gintas’ imagination.

“We let him do his work, and these beautiful natural creations come from these trees.

“We have complete confidence in this man.

“This guy is a genius and he enjoys it. If you go to Con Smith Park now and look at him, he’s laughing with a chainsaw.”