IceBear is an artist who, to many on Vancouver Island, may be best known as the person behind the stunning murals that, for decades, have graced the walls of buildings in the sleepy little town of Sidney by the Sea.

Those murals are now undergoing some restoration and that work has captured the attention of the public, and while that story can help to inform the people about the man behind the art, it is far from completely illuminating.

IceBear, or Chris Johnston, is a status member of the Chippewas of Nawash at Cape Croker at Georgian Bay in Ontario. For decades his art has enthralled the public with it's powerful images and deep spirituality.

Now a cross section of his art is on display at the Cedar Hill Recreation and Arts Centre in an exhibition entitled, Chris IceBear - Then, Now, and In-Between.

"Art isn't just about having a pretty picture. That's just the beauty of the art - something pretty to put on the wall. But art has to go beyond that. Art also has to have purpose and meaning. It has to see beyond the world that's out there."

Much of his work draws on his own spirituality and understanding of the First Nation communities which he is a part.

"People are the same, we come from the same blood, and the only difference is what we go through," he said. "My people have gone through suffrage, but this country came up to us, and, through truth and reconciliation, they said to us that we were wrong. This wasn't the people who did these things, it was the government at the time, and they were wrong."

He pointed to a sculpture of two eagles entwined in flight.

"I saw that sculpture in a vision and, when I came back from the United States, sketched it. It's two eagles entwined and circling, but I saw that when they plunged to the ground, they could release their talons and fly off - to soar, he said. "If we can learn to release out talons we can soar as well."

Johnston recalls his own awakening as an artist.

He was born in 1953 and spent most of his childhood in the care of Indian and Northern Affairs.

"They knew me as 1220075510," he said with a wry chuckle. "But I was this big (indicating a height of about three feet) when I started drawing. When I was 16, I was in Queen's Park, and I was drawing, and people would come up or call me over to talk about my art and about my spirituality. They wanted to see a real Indian, and I knew that the world was changing."

These days, when Johnston is asked what he paints, his response might be, "I paint the blood."

"I paint the DNA, the blood, the heart and soul of what I see. There's a saying in my culture - 'aaniin' - that translates into 'I see your light'. That's what I paint."

That belief system helped guide him when he painted the murals in Sidney and, perhaps, that's what made the work so powerful.

At the time, his approach had the power to unite the whole community in a totally unexpected way.

The restoration of his work, The Ocean, has been paused for the moment awaiting better conditions in the spring of next year, but it has not been abandoned.

"I'll get back to that mural in the spring, and I believe that it is still a powerful work. I'm hoping that the community can once again look at the work and understand the spiritual strength of the community and its past."

The exhibition at the Cedar Hill Recreation Centre will continue until Nov. 2.