ESTEVAN - Estevan is getting more and more colourful and creative, thanks to local artist B.J. Zieger.
Three big murals appeared in the Energy City in a matter of a couple of months this year, and the work continues. First, a little oasis popped up over the General Store on Fourth Street. Then a bubbling jug of beer, making viewers thirsty, appeared on the back side of Willy's the Tap House. And finally, the biggest image in Estevan, a portrait of a young woman started emerging on Sussex Arms apartment building.
These days Zieger can be seen finishing up his latest piece.
The Mercury talked to the artist about his work, the stories behind the paintings and his plans.
Zieger, a tattoo artist running Lucky Buddha Tattoo, said that he has always had a drive for bigger pieces. He got into big-scale art about 10 years ago, first beautifying streets in Regina, and now Estevan.
"I just got into painting and eventually met some friends that did murals, and I was fascinated by it," Zieger shared. "It's just something in me that I have to do. It's my passion. I would rather almost paint murals than tattoo. It's nice to be outside and it's such a fun medium and large scale. It's just really fascinating."
While the latest projects created more buzz in the community, Zieger has been working around town for over three years now.
A catchy shark graffiti appeared on old cement constructions located a few kilometres to the southeast of Estevan in May 2020. This creative move made by Zieger brought a lot of attention to the forgotten historic site, which was a part of the tipple at the Truax-Traer Coal Co., Ltd., mine.
The next project was a big cow mural that Zieger painted on the side of Beatz Eatz restaurant last year.
When this summer came around, the itch for a big-scale project pushed Zieger to make a post on social media, calling for vacant walls craving to be painted. The tropical mural over the General Store was the result of that search. Zieger said he wanted to paint something "bright and fun, especially downtown, that people can enjoy," but that was just the beginning.
"I liked the location that was on the rooftop, so I and my wife painted that one together. And then while I was doing that one, the owner of the Tap House contacted me for another one," Zieger shared.
After 10 days of work, the back alley behind the restaurant got brightened up too.
But Zieger's real Moby Dick in Estevan was the wall on Sussex Arms apartment building – one of the bigger ones, perfectly displayed and open. The story behind the mural – which is a portrait of his wife Keisha Zieger in her wedding dress holding a bouquet, the way the artist saw her last summer on their big day – is bigger than one may think.
"I've been after the owners for a couple of years because I tattoo the owner. And I told him that he's got the best wall in town. And so, I was trying to convince him for a couple of years," Zieger recalled.
"And finally, I'm making a film. And I needed this wall to be in the film, so I tried to convince him to let me paint it and he wasn't accepting of what I wanted to do."
The whole point of the film made Zieger find a way to get the wall.
The film, which will be called Ambition is a Drug, is a documentary based on the like-named book by Zieger.
"[It tells the story of] me finding my passion with art, which led me to do bigger and better things and just to change my life for the better," Zieger explained.
"It's a motivational self-help kind of thing, but also about what I do. I'm also doing a motivational seminar, which will be part of the film. We'll be filming that here in town at the Orpheum in September. So, everything's just going to mix into everything."
So, to get his dream wall to become a part of the film, Zieger agreed with the building owner that he will paint what he wants for the film, let it be for a few weeks and then he will cover it up and create a totally different mural, which the owner of the building wanted. Both murals, so as the tropical one, Zieger makes at his own expense. The deal was made and the filming started.
Yet, getting the wall wasn't the only challenge Zieger had to navigate around in this project.
He said it's the second mural depicting his wife. The first one he made in Regina, but still at first, Keisha wasn't sure about his idea.
"She was a little reluctant at first because she didn't want it this big. And now she likes it and doesn't really want me to paint it over," Zieger said with a laugh. "It's like an ice sculpture sometimes, you got to let things go and, as crummy as it is, it's really awesome that I get to paint my dream wall twice. And it has a cool story, too, for the film. It just proves that it doesn't matter what I have to do, I'll do whatever it takes to do it."
Another part of work that comes with such a big-scale art is working at height. It's something that Zieger said you can't really pay attention to when you are painting, but it's also something that fits the plot of the film about overcoming obstacles on the way to executing your ambitions.
"When you're up at the tallest part, and the platform starts moving, it's a little sketchy, but you have to just focus on what you're doing and not pay attention to that. Because if you do, then you're not going to be able to work and do anything, so you just got to stay focused," Zieger explained.
This is the biggest painting in Zieger's mural career, and he said the potential, as well as the challenges of big-scale art, was something that attracted him in the first place.
"What got me into [big-scale art] was that it was something different and out of the norm and scary, so I had to do it because it was so different and challenging," Zieger said.
And the challenge continues in the hopes to have a great product – a professional film – at the end. Once the film is done, Zieger plans to enter it into festivals and potentially have it played in theatres and/or distributed through streaming services like Netflix.
"I have big plans," he said.
After he is done with the first mural on Sussex Arms, he will let the community enjoy it for a few weeks and then will cover it up to paint a black and white vintage picture of a 1950s diner-style waitress holding a milkshake and a burger – something that the owner of the building wants.
One of the waitresses working at The Beef became a prototype for that mural.
Zieger said he plans to start covering the current mural in August and be done with the wall while it's still warm outside.
He also noted that there might be a couple of smaller murals he probably will be working on in Estevan this summer.
