Dr. Ed Gelmann is a professor at Columbia University in New York City and has been an avid collector of David’s work for many years. He has two special women in his life—Dana and her daughter, Kimora, who he loves like his own child. They came to ski Taos Mountain and to visit us in our studios. Although he had been talking about David painting a commission before, he made the commitment and arranged sittings where David would paint a portrait of these two beautiful women.

Although Ed told Dana and Kimora how much they would treasure this time in years to come—sitting for such an important artist—they seemed to miss the significance of the moment. Perhaps it was the difficulty of sitting still during the process, causing them to text and play with their phones, or perhaps it was a lack of experience with the artist-model relationship. Since David feeds off the models’ energy to create works that seem ‘alive’, this was an unprecedented challenge.

We took a few lucky photos for reference before they left for their home on the East coast.

Ed had said to make the painting a good painting first, and get a likeness, second.

David set to work. From the start he made with them present, he came up with a good size and placement and began to capture a feeling of light and presence. The pattern on the blouse was the last thing to go in set against Kimora’s white turtleneck as she leans lovingly against her mother. The result is a stunning double portrait that was received with great delight and appreciation.