I was browsing around the site reflecting on how far we’ve come and couldn’t help but notice the wealth of inspiration and content we’ve got in the SpearTalks archives. So, I figured I’d round them all up for easy consumption. Whether you like fashion, technology, art, or just about anything else– with nearly 40 incredible interviews, there’s something for everyone thanks to our very own Carmel Hagen. Go, dive in, it’s just a click away.

Site mainstay Scott Rench (aka Yosoh) was one of the proud winners of the UNKL UniPo-By-You contest, and his piece is finally for sale. The Chicago-based ceramic artist and illustrator was chosen from more than 400 entries. He would like to build an artist co-op if he won the lottery, likes to eat melted cheese and sugar, and is one of my favorite pals. Congrats Scott! Go buy yours now at rotofugi for a whopping $7.95, and support independent artists.

Our good friend Scott Rench (a.k.a Yosoh) is at it again. Only this time he's in it to win it (uh, again.) Our favorite ceramist/freelance art director/graphic designer has a rather hot entry in Imprint Culture Lab'slatest design contest. The winner takes home a thousand dollar purse…though we're not really sure if that means pocket book or cash prize. In any case, we figured we'd give our friend a little nudge. If you have to vote for one thing this year, (or two things this year…we almost forgot there’s an election going on! Whoops.) we encourage you to cast your vote Scott's handsome handbag design. Rock the vote!

Scott Rench (a.k.a. Yosoh), is so multi-talented we can’t seem to say enough about his artistic gifts; the ceramist and freelance art director/graphic designer has been written up 14 times on this here site. Well, make that 15 as Mr. Rench continues to amaze us with astonishing visual images. The latest in his canon of eye catching creations comes to us in the form of his new Threadless Select shirt, featuring the design entitled “Me vs. Me“. This wearable masterpiece contains 10 colors — two of which glow in the dark — featuring black felt lined fists taking up arms against a snarling inner visage. We suggest you head on over to Threadless and pick one up immediately, but if you can’t do it immediately and have to wait an hour, don’t beat yourself up over it.

Scott Rench (aka: Yosoh) has the kind of story we like to read about. An accidental designer and an unconventional artist, Scott fell into his current jobs in advertising and ceramics by chance, when a friend introduced him to a little program called Photoshop. Now, over 15 years later, Scott splits his time between developing effective ad campaigns for clients like Sony, creating shirts (and sinks!) for companies like Threadless (whom you no doubt remember from a recent SpearTalks), and accompanying his art to places like Art Basel in Miami Beach.

Lord knows it’s hard enough to do one thing well, so the fact that Scott has experienced so much success within all of his occupations — particularly after adding fate into the equation — is no small feat. Here, Mr. Rench discusses his past, his present, and how it was that the one led so favorably to the other.

JoshSpear.com: Before you met Larry Geiger, where was your life headed?

Scott Rench: That’s really hard to say, but my guess is a very different path. In graduate school I really struggled with whether to focus my creative efforts on painting or ceramics. I found painting to be easier but thought if I needed to pay rent it would be a whole lot easier to sell coffee cups then $800 paintings. Sometimes the easier road is not necessarily the better one. I suspect I probably would have gone back to my painting roots. I have always been an image maker and the idea of making brown pots has never really appealed to me.

JS: Walk us through the time-line of your life, post-Larry Geiger and up to today…

SR: Well, as I mention on my site, I met Larry in 1992, and he opened my eyes to the computer as a creative tool. I was blown away by what Photoshop could do. I could never get on the computers at school cause the Mac lab was rather small and design students were always waiting for a computer. When I did manage to get a computer I could feel the eyes burning a hole through the back of my head. It was not until one Christmas break that I had uninterrupted access to the Mac. The chair of the department gave me and my friend the key to the building. So we spent about 15 hours a day there, sometimes in coats and gloves with no heat. READ MORE…

Remember that Do Your Own Dew: Mountain Dew Bottle Design Contest we mentioned a few weeks ago? JoshSpear.com mainstay and good friend Scott Rench, AKA Yosoh is in the competition and needs our help. Apparently he’s losing to some knuckle-head designs shown on the middle and left (seriously embarrassing). Scott’s design is on the right, an awesome collection of illustrations in a signature iconic Yosoh style. To vote for him just log on to the site, click bottles and look for artist name Yosoh.You can vote every 24 hours (although it looks like the winners found a way to scam the system, sadly). Voting ends July 14th, lets go support him!

It’s not that I’m ungrateful about receiving gifts, it’s just that I appreciate — maybe more than most — incredibly wrapped presents, whether they’re heading my way or not. For some reason, I feel a lackadaiscally-chosen gift can be totally redeemed when thoughtfully encased in ribbons, bows and/or paper. I blame my mother for the years of beautifully wrapped and bowed boxes, which were always themed and always unique; one year, it was tartan ribbon trimmed metallic-painted leaves and seedpods from eucalyptus trees, a sort of unconscious homage to our Australian and Scottish heritage.

My tastes have shifted from the homespun variety and are influenced heavily by pop culture and modern design, and that’s why I dig the line of papers offered by French Paper Co. Cheeky and audacious, their papers are sure to make any pair of socks you give your Dad next Sunday a fun little kick. And if you’re into a little potty humor (who isn’t?), be sure to take a look at their series of illustrated books. I mean, what’s not to love about a book entitled “Fluffy Humpy Poopy Puppy?” Nothing. Nothing at all.

We’d been waiting with baited breath to see the winning entries for UNKL’s UniPo-By-You contest, and yesterday, that email came. Even more exciting than finding out they had over four hundred sumbissions for the contest was from all over the world was seeing house favorite Scott Rench in the winning line-up. The UNKL Fan Series will hit the shelves in late 2007. Congratulations to all the winners!

The Wurstminster Dog Show is now live, a project where artists were invited to reserve a dog breed on a first come, first serve basis. Every artist attempted to capture the look and spirit of each breed in their own unique way. A portion of proceeds go to a DoveLewis, a Portland, OR emergency animal hospital. It’s hard to pick favorites, but I love Dan Funderburgh’s Briard ($400), a collage on wood, Scott Rench’s Golden Retriever ($125), a slip-cast earthenware with ceramic over-glaze decals, and of course, Cody Hudson’s Akita ($800), mixed media. Browse around and support a great cause!

Art is generally a difficult thing to buy for someone else–but hopefully narrowing down our favorite posters, affordable sculptures and limited-edition prints from the vaults will help make that purchase for friend or family easier. Enjoy!

• DNA11: Fingerprint Art: Our friends over at DNA11 continue to live their mantra “From Life Comes Art” with their latest product: Fingerprint Portraits… Continue Reading

• Right Brain Terrain: We covered the fabulous posters of ironic, witty and maybe even borderline genius designer Frederic Terral of Right Brain Terrain before…Continue Reading

• Scott Rench: Scott Rench has got to have one of the most inventive lines of artwork I have seen in a very long time, not to mention… Continue Reading

• All Pop Art: allpopart.com does retro inspired personalized pop art. It looks like a ‘buncha folks got crazy with a few Photoshop plug-ins and after final touchups… Continue Reading

• ISO 50 Prints: Scott Hansen, the talented designer/musician behind ISO50 just released three brand new poster prints in time for the holidays… Continue Reading

• Chuck Anderson: Chuck Anderson has a nice little update to his site No Pattern, including a pretty bad-ass print titled Good Parts of Bad Dreams… Continue Reading

• The Poster List: Sick of bare walls but can't bring yourself to put up a poster of Pink Floyd or Jerry Garcia? We are too… Continue Reading

• BetterWall: Ever wonder what happens to those big vinyl street banners that are displayed at museums when an exhibit ends? BetterWall is a Colorado… Continue Reading

• Jeremy Prasatik: jp33 is the online portfolio of graphic artist Jeremy Prasatik– a seriously talented young individual. His multi-dimensional portfolio… Continue Reading

• DeeDee9:14: Dee Adams paints because she is obsessed with the idea of simplifying. As a kid she would worry her mother as she sat at a table and colored… Continue Reading

• Tra Sheltrow: Tra Selhtrow was born in what he calls ‘the middle of nowhere' Kansas. He graduated from the Columbus… Continue Reading

• Jefrey Lacson: Jefrey Lacson creates very intricate and interesting artwork–they're collages, digital assemblages, or “3-D constructions” as he calls them… Continue Reading

Our friend Scott Rench, aka Yosoh, the ‘computers and clay‘ dude, also happens to be an insanely talented art director and all around advertising creative guy. Unfortunately, some knuckle-heads at an agency that will go unnamed laid him off last week when they lost a handful of accounts. I told him not to worry, I’d find him a job, this is JoshSpear.com afterall. His advertising portfolio is available online. The bad-ass creative he did for Sony Noise Canceling Headphones should land him a coosh job all on their own, but there is a lot of top notch work in there — I’m a fan, very nice work! Good luck Scott…

I wanted to give an extra special congratulations to Scott Rench (Yosoh Ceramics) for the well deserved write up in the latest Winter/Spring issue of Mac Directory. The story is appropriately called Macs and Mud Make Magic– highlighting the way Rench’s innovative ceramic style has merged traditional ceramic technique with his beloved Macintosh and laser printer. In the article Rench says “I have encountered some push back from the traditionalists. People like to place you into nicely defined art forms. I have often had trouble with galleries, for my work straddles so many fences in the art world. It’s print, clay, and sculpture, but often it encompasses elements of photography and illustration.” If you’re not familiar with Scott Rench’s work, check him out. He’s finally starting to get the recognition he deserves.

Time to kick off the year in review. Here are some of the most popular Art posts on JoshSpear.com as well as some of my favorites! They’re in no particular order…

Scott Rench needs little introduction on my site, his work continues to amaze us all. He has what looks like an amazing show up at the Dubhe Carreno Gallery in Chicago. I’ve got some exclusive photos of the show courtesy of Smitty Image. The pictures do more justice than any explanation I could give, but his work is a combination of digital images printed on handmade ceramic sandals. The show runs until January 4th, if you’re in the area make sure to check it out. More detailed pictures after the jump!

Pictures from the Dubhe Carreno Gallery opening.

Scott Rench is quickly on his way to fame and stardom– and he deserves every bit of it. His new work was recently in the SOFA Chicago show, or as some call it: “The International Exposition of Sculpture Objects & Functional Art”. On Friday, November 11th Scott has a solo exhibit at the Chicago at Dubhe Carreno Gallery. The show is called ‘Try Walking in My Shoes’. I saw a few sneak peak pictures of this exhibit and words do not even describe how amazing it is– more on that one soon. Congrats Scott!