Calm voice and steady speech. Settle eye with a spark of curiosity. A quiet style of dress. Nothing would let out James Vollans as a creative cartoon artist, in his heart dreaming about one day publishing his own comic books, if it weren’t for a Superman/Batman hat that was adding a bright note to his generally ordinary appearance.
Vollans started drawing when he was five years old. Surrounded by several artistic family members, he said he always had it in his blood. His mother and brother encouraged his artwork, and since the early years, art became his way to express himself, his feelings and how he saw the world around him.
"(For me art) is more of a self-expression kind of thing, a kind of a hobby, a sideline, something that I would do just to take my mind off of problems at school or something like that. It's something I do to express myself and relax at the same time," Vollans said in the interview with the Mercury.
He was born and raised in Estevan. A few attempts to relocate from the Energy City insistently led him back and he always managed to come home since "home is where your heart is," as Vollans put it.
Rory Fleming, who is the employment consultant for the Southeast Advocates for Employment (SEAE), the organization that strongly supports Vollans in his art, said that his talent is really impressive and many-sided.
"James is a very capable artist," Fleming said. "He has a lot of potential."
Vollans really enjoys drawing cartoons and superheroes. He created a team of "elemental" type superheroes, with different stories and various superpowers like fire powers or controlling earth elements. Some of them have been around for quite a few years already, and others Vollans created recently.
"It's just my imagination," he said. "My mind constantly finds new ideas. I see something when I walk around, and it inspires me to create characters. It doesn't take much to spark my imagination."
He added that while he has stories in his head, often it's hard to make them sound good on paper and he tells them through pictures. He prefers sketching and also doing pen and ink and colour pieces.
"When you look at his artwork, if he was in a big city, he'd probably be doing a lot of comics and things like that," Fleming said. "We think it's just the beginning, and as he progresses and moves forward, it's going to start opening up."
Superheroes are Vollans' passion and hobby, but he also does some custom decorative artwork. His company is called Panther Graphics Canada.
One of his recent works saw the Estevan's General Store beautifully painted for the Christmas season. He's done window paintings before, and this year he will do a few more holiday displays around Estevan including the SEAE and the Tower Café and Willy's the Tap House.
"It's a promotional thing for local businesses and organizations, just brightening up their windows," Vollans said.
"I'm not a big fan of painting, but it's pretty fun. I think it's more the social aspect of it (that I enjoy). People are going to see it … and nowadays with the COVID pandemic and everybody being locked up in their houses, I think we just need a little cheering up, add some colours, add some happiness."
Sometimes people know what they want to see on their windows, and other times they leave it up to the artist. For windows, Vollans usually uses acrylic paint, which is easy to apply and remove from the glass.
Vollans has a few art pieces available for sale at the General Store. And while he is now booked until Christmas, he does custom artwork throughout the year which includes holiday cards and pictures, window painting, banners, posters and signs, business mascots, logo design, tattoo design and more. For more information, Vollans can be contacted at 306-421-1217.
