Here at the Hotel Chelsea the walls of the lobby are lined with art work by Larry Rivers and Philip Taft and many more. In keeping with the Chelsea's spirit of unbridled creativity David Combs can be found at his easel in the in the lobby almost anytime. Stop by and introduce yourself and let him know what you think. 
What do you do?
I am an artist, a painter. I mostly paint pictures of buildings, exteriors and interiors but I have a lot of different things going on.
How long have you lived at the Chelsea?
I'm a newbie, I've only lived here about five months.
Why did you decide to move into the Chelsea?
I was introduced to the hotel by Jean Pearson and through her I met Robert Lambert and Hawk Alferdson who invited me to a party being thrown by Tom Parson that night. At the party I met a lot of people, some of which had seen me painting on the street. I liked everyone immensely, not because they were super nice or anything, they just weren't full of shit. I decided there that I would try to do what I could to get a place here.
Do you think there is a creative energy in the Chelsea?
Yes. Personally I believe it has as much to do with the transients that come through the hotel as the people that live there year round. Most of them are there because they have heard about the hotel so they come in with this wonder that is a bit infectious. It's hard not to be inspired when
people are inspired around you.
How has living in the Chelsea affected your creative development?
Part of being an artist who works primarily from life is that eventually you have to deal with people. I've painted in a number of areas (42nd Street Library, Wall Street, The Met) where people aren't shy about telling you either how great you are or how much you suck. Either you learn how to deal with it or become a studio painter. I get a lot of suggestions from people in the hotel about what I should put in the painting, how I should paint it, and what I should do next. Because I have disregarded my
instinct to tell people to go fuck themselves I have actually learned quite a bit. Rene Ricard for example talks to me quite a bit about history, Dutch painting in particular, and he'll point out something that I've done and how it relates. Because I'm conscience of it, thanks to Rene, I can
explore it a little deeper and make the painting richer in scope. Another quick example, the painting I'm working on now is about past residents of the hotel. Because people feel free to talk to me about it I get all sorts of suggestions of who to include and then when I've painted them I'll get a comment like, "Larry Rivers would never smile like that," or "Vally Myers would never wear a dress like that." That's all good, I need that kind of information.
What other creative people at the Chelsea or elsewhere have influenced your development?
My mother.
Who is the most famous person you’ve ever ridden with in the Chelsea elevator?
I feel like this question should be subtitled "Place your Ethan Hawke story here." The only other famous person I've seen is Elvis Costello and I didn't talk to him much less ride the elevator but here's my Ethan story:
So I get in the elevator and Ethan is there with his girlfriend. I get out of the elevator on my stop and he stays inside to continue upwards to his floor. We may have said hello, I can't remember. Not juicy enough for you?
Let's try this again: So I'm all fucked up on China White, really blasted, stumbling through
the lobby when I see Ethan Hawke. Now me and Ethan have had our ups and downs
so I am prepared to knife the bastard if he gets too close but he is being really nice which is weird because he's usually a big asshole, the kind of guy that yells racial slurs at people from his balcony. He says, "Hey Dave," and i say, "Hey Dave" right back because I think I'm looking at
a mirror (we look that much a like) and he laughs and invites me up to his room to do some blow. We get into the elevator and the fucker is full of what i thought at the time where Asian prostitutes. I get really nervous but Ethan plays it cool and says to the girls, "I was in Training Day," and
they totally loose their shit. They start screaming, "Denzel Washington! Denzel Washington!" and Ethan doesn't even correct them, in fact he asks them if they liked Man On Fire but they don't understand. He invites them to come up to his apartment on the roof and they accept. Now I'm all
fucked up and for some reason my pants are wet and around my ankles but I am lucid
enough to know that Ethan doesn't live on the roof. Then I remember why I don't like Ethan. You see Ethan is in the habit of treating everyone's apartment like his own, it's not uncommon to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to Ethan Hawke banging on the door demanding that you vacate the
premises so he can "get some sleep." And that is exactly what happened to Norman who
lives in the penthouse suite on the roof of the Chelsea Hotel. As I remember it Norman opens the door kindly enough and even seems pleased when he sees the prostitutes but all this is shattered when Ethan opens his mouth, "I'm Denzel Washington, " the girls scream, "and you are in my
apartment. Get out." Well, Norman didn't take this too lightly. He looked him dead in the eye and said, "Fuck you, mate!" then he turned to me, "Pull your pants up! it's not thursday," and then he slammed the door. It was unprecedented, no one had ever said no to Ethan Hawke and he was so
obviously shocked that later as we did heavy drugs in my room he could barely finish making love to the third Asian prostitute and I, who witnessed this giant's fall from grace, could barely watch the excessive love making. I had no trouble filming however and it was later released under the
title "Chelsea Balls"
What’s the best thing that has ever happened to you at the Chelsea?
Hands down the best thing was being blown by Janis Joplin's ghost.
I'm gonna write a song about it.
Next week, the other Hawk talks!
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