Description: Watercolor | Image Size: 16”h x 28”w; Framed Size: 26 ½”h x 38”w

As the subjects head through the shaded bend of the canyon wall, one of the riders alerts his companions by pointing towards the “omen” that presents just beyond on the other side of the shoreline ... a coup stick delineating “territorial” rights of another tribe. The sunlight in that area seems to be more absorbed than reflected by the stream projecting an aura of drama to the scene unfolding.

One of the more difficult tasks faced by a painter, particularly a watercolorist, is to effectively juxtapose very different textures such as the hard and craggy surface of a canyon wall and the reflective nature of standing water. In “Territorial Omen,” Halbach is able to achieve that juxtaposition in a highly authentic way. His water has a realistic shimmer and his canyon wall has a depth that makes one want to touch it. He also masterfully contrasts dark and light spaces to assist in casting the potential for an element of danger.

First appearing at the 31st Annual Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale in 1996 at the Phoenix Art Museum, Halbach’s “Territorial Omen” was more recently loaned to the Phippen Museum in Prescott, Arizona, for the “Cool, Cool Water” exhibition in 2018. It remains a permanent part of the EBC.

Description: Watercolor (1994) | Image Size: 15 ½”h x 24 ¾”w; Framed Size: 25 3/8”h x 33 3/8”w

The Flute Ceremony traditionally held in August and on opposite years of the Snake Dance is a nine-day celebration encouraging rain and a successful corn crop and for the continuity of life after death. During the days leading up to the ceremony, an altar is constructed with carvings and paintings to represent the clouds that will bring rain to the villages.

The Flute Ceremony begins with a procession through the village. The clan chief leads a group that includes the flute boy, flute girls, men carrying cornstalks and warriors with bullroarers. Prayers for rain are said and a priest scatters corn meal on the ground before the flute altar. Water is poured into a bowl from all directions to symbolize the rain clouds and a bullroarer is used to represent the sound of thunder.

The unwrapping of the tiponi occurs on the sixth day of celebration. The tiponi is made of wood, shaped like a cup and decorated with rain cloud and corn symbols. Inside the cup rests a single ear of corn or corn grains. This corn represents the seed that was carried by the early tribes throughout their migrations. Wrapped in cotton string and feathers, the tiponi is unwrapped by a flute priest so the corn within can be planted. A new ear of corn is then placed within it and re-wrapped until the following year.

Description: Watercolor (1993) | Image Size: 15”h x 24 3/4”w; Frame Size: 27 1/6”h x 36 ¾”w

David Halbach has a well-deserved reputation as a visual historian of the western frontier, an excellent storyteller, and a devoted student of American Indian customs and culture. With such a wealth of talents, his prowess as a landscape painter is sometimes overlooked. “Canyon de Chelly Gold” is primarily a landscape painting. It does include figures, a rider trailing three horses toward the mouth of a canyon, but the subject of the painting is the land with its sheer reddish canyon walls that are somewhat shrouded by white mists. The viewer’s eye is led into the heart of the picture by the figures which proceed from the right foreground between the two canyon walls. The green leaves of two groves of trees add a contrasting note of color to the rock faces of the canyon, and nestled beneath one of the groves is a traditional Navajo hogan. The path between the two prominent canyon walls leads into the distance toward another wall which gives the painting a sense of depth and grandeur.

The National Park Service website says the following about Canyon de Chelly National Monument: “It is a vast park in northeastern Arizona on Navajo tribal lands. Its prominent features include Spider Rock spire, about 800-feet tall, and towering sandstone cliffs surrounding a verdant canyon. Inhabited by several Native American peoples for millennia, the area is dotted with prehistoric rock art. The White House Ruins and Mummy Cave are remains of ancient Pueblo villages.”

Description: Watercolor on Paper (1998) | Image Size: 22”h x 18”w; Framed Size: 31 ½”h x 27”w

“Warnings and Portents” is an excellent example of David Halbach’s skill as an artist and storyteller. A fur trapper is crouching near a stream to fill his canteen. Halbach portrays him just at the moment that he looks up, perhaps because of an echoing canyon noise, to see a shadow cast of an approaching warrior on the rock face. We are caught in a moment filled with alarm and anticipation—just as the trapper is.

Halbach’s use of light and shadow to set the stage for the unfolding drama is a key element of the painting. He has neatly bisected the painting; the top half in bright sunlight shows the steep and rough canyon walls with the shadow of the approaching warrior. The deeply shadowed bottom half almost obscures the figure of the trapper. As a result, the viewer must concentrate to take in all the aspects of the scene from the exquisite landscape to the details of the trapper’s clothing and his accoutrements, a rifle in one hand and a canteen in the other, and the trapper poised to take whatever action will be necessary. And it is those rich features that Halbach has left not only the outcome of the story to the imagination of the viewer, but for the viewer wanting more.

This piece won the silver medal in the water soluble category at the 33rd Annual Cowboy Artists of America Show & Sale in 1998 at the Phoenix Art Museum.

Description: Watercolor | Image Size: 16”h x 24”w; Framed Size: 25”h x 32 7/8”w

In “Fire that Talks,” Halbach isolates Indians on a vast plain who are using smoke from a small fire to send a message to distant comrades. The Indians are shown in the center of the canvas in full light, but shadows indicate that daylight will soon be waning, making signals such as this one impossible. The white puff of smoke emanating from the fire in the very center of the painting captures the viewer’s attention and immerses him in the unfolding story.

Description: Watercolor (1997) | Image Size: 13”h x 23 ½”w; Framed Size: 22”h x 32”w

“Just Makin’ It” took home the Silver Medal in water solubles at the 32nd Annual CAA Exhibition & Sale at the Phoenix Art Museum in 1997. Dave Halbach masterfully captured the reflective quality of water and easily combined other textures such as the weathered wood of the barn and wagon, the horses’ coats, and that of the hay. The painting though executed in muted colors, has quite distinct scene details. Halbach effectively presented a narrative that is representative of just one of the many arduous and necessary tasks of ranching.

Description: Watercolor | Image Size: 12”h x 16”w; Framed Size: 18 ¾”h X 22 ¾”w

The Hopi Snake Antelope Ceremony is the grand finale of ceremonies to pray for rain. The ceremonies, conducted by the Snake and Antelope fraternities, last 16 days. On the 11th day, preparations start for the Snake Dance. For four days, snake priests go out from their village to gather snakes. On the 15th day, a race is run, signifying rain gods brining water to the village. Then the Antelope build a kisi, a shallow pit covered with a board to represent the entrance to the underworld. At sunset on the 15th day, the Snake and Antelope dancers dance around the plaza, stamping on the kisi board and shaking rattles to simulate the sounds of thunder and rain. The Antelope priest dances with green vines around his neck and his mouth, just as the Snake priests will later do with snakes.

The last day starts with a footrace to honor the snakes. The snakes are washed and deposited in the kisi. The Snake priests dance around the kisi. Each is accompanied by two other priests: one holding a snake whip and one whose function will be to catch the snake when it is dropped. Then each priest takes a snake and carries it first in his hands and then in his mouth. The whipper dances behind him with his left arm around the dancer’s neck and calms the snake by stroking it with a feathered wand. After four dances around the plaza, the priests throw the snakes to the catchers. A priest draws a circle on the ground, the catchers throw the snakes in the circle, the Snake priests grab handfuls of them and run with them to turn them loose in the desert.

Description: Watercolor (1987) | Image Size: 13”h x 22”w; Framed Size: 23 3/8”h x 31 7/8”w

One of several depictions by David Halbach of this important Hopi ceremony, “Snake” combines the artist’s ability to authentically capture the customs of the Hopi and to expertly render the surrounding landscape and village. Halbach shows that he is both a student of these important customs and a keen observer of the natural and man-made environment. He gives equal weight to the ceremony participants and the unique elements and formations of their surroundings presenting a complete picture of the people and the landscape.

Description: Watercolor (1986) | Image Size: 12”h x 19”w; Framed Size: 21”h x 28”w

Halbach’s knack as a storyteller and visual historian of the West is fully evident in this picture of a frontier photographer setting up a portrait of a Plains Tribal Chief and his family. While the photographer tends to his subjects, curious onlookers surround the camera equipment. Note that the chief’s image appears upside down as it would during that time. Halbach has cleverly titled the #watercolor “When Up is Down”, a subtle nod to period authenticity.

As always, Halbach is careful to add these authentic details of the era, the location and the culture depicted. The carefully chosen colors range from vibrant to neutral and have been used advantageously to artfully depict the glancing sunlight and full shadows. Each element is handled well with the result being a fully realized vignette from the historical West.

Description: Watercolor (1997) | Image Size: 16”h x 24”w; Framed Size: 27”h x 35”w

Description: Watercolor (2004) | Image Size: 21.5”h x 29.5”w; Framed Size: 36.5h”h x 45.5”w

Description: Watercolor (1999) | Image Size: 22.5”h x 39.5”w; Framed Size: 37”h x 53”w

The Wuwuchim ceremony is part of the traditions of the Hopi Indians of North America. The history of this and other Native American cultures dates back thousands of years into prehistoric times. According to many scholars, the people who became the Native Americans migrated from Asia across a land bridge that may have once connected the territories presently occupied by Alaska and Russia. The migrations, believed to have begun between 60,000 and 30,000 B . C . E ., continued until approximately 4,000 B . C . E . This speculation, however, conflicts with traditional stories asserting that the indigenous Americans have always lived in North America or that tribes moved up from the south.

The historical development of religious belief systems among Native Americans is not well known. Most of the information available was gathered by Europeans who arrived on the continent beginning in the sixteenth century C . E . The data they recorded was fragmentary and oftentimes of questionable accuracy because the Europeans did not understand the native cultures they were trying to describe and the Native Americans were reluctant to divulge details about themselves.

The Hopi Indian ceremony known as Wuwuchim takes place in November and marks the beginning of a new ceremonial year in the Hopi calendar. The name is believed to have derived from the Hopi word wuwutani, which means "to grow up," and the initiation of young men into the sacred societies that oversee this and other Hopi ceremonies is an important part of the celebration. The tribal elders close off all roads leading to the pueblo, all fires are extinguished, and the women and children stay indoors. The initiation rituals take place in the underground chamber known as the Kiva , where the adolescent boys are gathered and where they participate in secret ceremonies that introduce them to Hopi religious customs and beliefs. Although visitors and even other tribe members are not allowed to witness these rites, they are overseen by a tribal chief who impersonates Masau ' U , the Hopi god of death and the ruler of the underworld. After they have undergone their initiation, the young men are treated as adults and allowed to dance as kachinas in other Hopi ceremonies throughout the year. Wuwuchim is therefore essential to the continuing cycle of Hopi ceremonial life.

The kindling of the new fire is the first ritual to take place during Wuwuchim. Other tribes observe this ritual around the time of the Winter Solstice , but the fact that it is part of Wuwuchim underscores the latter's importance as the start of the Hopi New Year. As the ceremony draws to a close, there are prayers, songs, and dances designed to ensure the safety and success of the Hopi people in the coming year.

Description: (1998)

Description: (1986)

Description: Watercolor (1986) | Image Size: 11 ¾”h x 19”w; Framed Size: 20.75”h x 28.25”w

Description: Watercolor (1992) | Image Size: 16”h x 24 ½”w

Description: Watercolor (1987) | Image Size: 14”w x 16”h; Framed Size: 23.5”w x 26.5”h