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!

It's often said that one man's treasure is another man's trash, which is precisely where many unwanted gifts are going to end up this holiday season; instead of casting those corny curios into the compost heap, consider that as bad as that giant NKOTB Joe Mac pin is, somewhere there's a little boy, girl or hipster whose life just isn't complete without it. Thanks to Bad Gift Emporium, a site dedicated to re-gifting that which is both radiant or repulsive (depending on the eye of the beholder), those lonely-hearted, empty-handed dreamers can find their holiday prize while their counterparts clean out their closets.

(Thanks, Scott!)

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!

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…

The news it out! Bong Vodka just launched a gorgeous artist bottles series in collaboration with some of our favorite artists: Jason Thielke, Yosoh, Matthew Curry and Ogi. The limited edition bottles (and boxes) will be available in stores throughout Florida, Texas, New York, Las Vegas and California at the end of August. Check out the Spirit Of The Brand site to learn more about their unique program– they are constantly searching for artists for new bottle designs, boxes, t-shirts and music compilations.

More detailed pictures after the jump!
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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.

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.

For some time now, Scott Rench has been one of my artistic heroes– after he initially emailed me almost a year ago to ‘check out his work’, I was floored that such a talented artist had received such a small amount of recognition. From then on, we’ve shared ideas on art, and thoughts of the future. I’ve been meaning to interview him because frankly he’s one of the most talented, motivated, and interesting artists I’ve ever known. A new Polish magazine called ‘webesteem‘, beat me to the interview, but luckily they did a wonderful job. If you don’t know who Scott Rench is, I promise, you soon will. His unique computer generated prints on hand made ceramics are not to be missed. Check out his site for more work, and be sure to read the interview.

Remember the “Get It Louder” exhibit in Shangai I mentioned a little while back? It was essentially an event celebrating the next generation of young and promising artists. Well, the news is it was an absolute blast, packed, and a huge success. Scott Rench, who exhibited his “Computers and Clay” work there, pointed me to their site where they now have tons of pictures of the event available. This is part of the exhibit before it opened up–check out the pictures, a few moments later this room was swarming with people.

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 cool. Computers and clay is an unusual combination of tools to create artwork with, but he has mastered it. Combining technology and one of the oldest forms of artistic expression–clay. The odd combination produces some very appealing results. His site shows the steps he goes through to create his unique work–screen printing and glazing in steps. He has been making this kind of work for more than 12 years and has exhibited in shows overseas with Picasso, Roy Lichtenstein, and others. He works as an Art Director at a Chicago advertising agency, but for me no advertisement could inspire me the way this work does. Check out his site for more work of all shapes and sizes, even including a very cool limited sink. Keep reading on for more.

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