DIRTY DONNY GILLIES

Native Canadian and now San Francisco staple 'Dirty' Donny Gillies' early fascination with Cartoons, comic books and model kits lead directly to Donny receding into his own self-created world of monsters and hot rods.

His unconventional approach to the art world along with a blast of natural talent has landed him lucrative jobs with Fender guitars, Vans apparel, Dunlop guitar picks and Bell motor cycle helmets, not to mention vinyl toy company Kid Robot and sticker apparel label Poster Pop. Donny's art has also been featured in countless magazines including Juxtapoz, International tattoo art and Metal hammer.

Donny has also done extensive work for San Francisco Metalheads Metallica as well as Sweden's The Hellacopters.

More of his work can be viewed here.


'Dirty' Donny Gillies for DESK SPACE

DESK SPACE When did you start becoming interested in art or produce your first work of art?

DIRTY DONNY GILLIES I have been interested in art since I could hold a pencil.

I started getting jobs in the late 80's and early 90's doing flyer's for local puck bands and that lead me into sign painting and chalkboard's for bars and restaurants. In the mid 90's I started doing record covers for out of town bands and that's when the ball started rolling out of control.



DS Where do you work (at your desk/outside/in a studio)?

DDG I had a studio on Haight St. for about 3 years and when the lease ran out I decided to start working from home again. My wife Oriana and I have a nice space here in SF and I also have a big garage witch is handy for larger projects.

DS Why do you work where you do (at your desk because it is a quiet space/outside b/c it helps you think/in the park b/c you can smoke, etc)?

DDG I have a perfect size room, set up in 3 sections, light/drafting table for illustration, computer table and flat file for storage.
Again the garage serves it's purpose for pinstriping, woodwork and larger commissions, plus messing around with my '69 Satellite, my other love.



DS What are you working on now?

DDG Just finished a guitar pic set for Dunlop. I'm doing a one of a kind pinball machine for Metallica right now with my friends Wade Krause and Tanio Klyce.

Coming up

This week on DESK SPACE: Dirty Donny Gillies

RAY HSU

Ray Hsu for DESK SPACE

DESK SPACE Who (a one-liner or a bio)?

RAY HSU I'm a postdoc in creative writing at the University of British Columbia. I received my PhD in English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. My book of poems, Anthropy, got the Gerald Lampert award, and I have over thirty journals to thank for taking over a hundred poems of mine. I taught for a few years in a US prison, where I formed the Prison Writing Workshop with a group of incarcerated writers.



DS When did you start writing, publish your first book (or when are you publishing your next)?

RH I started writing Choose Your Own Adventures in second grade, but didn't start poetry until undergrad. I put out my first book in 2004 and my next is due spring 2010.



DS Where do you write (at your desk/outside/in bed)?

RH I usually write in cafes (can't get the accent on this keyboard).



DS Why do you work where you do (at your desk because it is a quiet space/outside b/c it helps you think/in the park b/c you can smoke, etc)?

RH I work in cafes because I live osmotically off the buzz of folks brainstorming around me.



DS What are you working on now?



RH I'm working at Gene's, a cafe where Kingsway meets Main, in Vancouver. The leaves are undulating in the sun.

Coming up

This week on DESK SPACE: Ray Hsu