Howdy sexy rat babes, happy Monday! If you’re new here, you may not know that I tend to alternate the length of letters from week to week, typically a long-form letter followed by a shorter one. This week we’ll be promoting some cool creators we’ve enjoyed recently - some of whom are Rat Depot readers! - and giving you the opportunity to go and explore their work and get some swaggy new stuff on your feed.
Let’s crack on.
Paulie pick: Laura Duarte
Rome based illustrator and “wannabe comic book artist” caught my eye when they gave Rat Depot a follow the other day. Their work is often dark and macabre but with glints of sunlight between overcast clouds, an artist who is working on themselves, with a love for their art and for other people. When I asked Laura if they could describe their art, they told me:
It’s a “dive into the world of taboos, difficult emotions and the complexity of the human experience. My work functions as both therapy and a coping mechanism. From the pits of depression, anxiety, loneliness or melancholy to the highs of love, friendship and hope, life is one hell of a bittersweet ride. There's always someone having it better, and someone having it worse... but in the middle of it all, emotions are the thing we all share, connecting all of us together. This is a judgement free space to acknowledge our very human flaws, while celebrating the good in life and try to heal some wounded hearts along the way.”
Laura shared a few pieces with me that they’re most proud of and I’ve included two of those above! I also personally like these works:
As Laura said, I think their work contains moments of deep sadness, but a sadness that temporarily conceals the inner kindness and joy of the subjects of their work. Go check em out and if you end up following, let em know Rat Depot sent ya.
Paulie pick: Ranald MacDonald
Musician and artist Ranald MacDonald’s work is best described in their own words:
“My work is about the relationship between people and what we call ‘Nature’. I’m drawn to making images of human beings and their pets in public spaces for their potential to represent this relationship. I make my own paint using pigments gathered from waste products in London parks and streets (earth, discarded metal oxides, bricks) and work on found wooden boards and recycled paper so that the history of the materials can work with the themes of the paintings, and the works can physically embody the threshold between ‘Nature’ and human-beings that they are representing visually”.
Well that’s fucking cool isn’t it! The first painting that made me fall in love with MacDonald’s style was the one above, Just Call Out My Name, (II), 2023. The eyes and thick set monobrow style ridge reminded me immediately of Wallace and Gromit, while the long stretching perspective towards the walker with the lead has such a comical scale to it, as if the dog is about to be yanked 100 yards - it makes you feel more like the dog than the human, caught right before the jerking motion. Ranald describes this piece in a far more intellectual way than me via the caption so stop listening to my dumb ass and go and browse. I’ve included some other favourites below:
Have you followed yet? Ok what about now. What about now? What abo-
Paulie pick: Torin Rowe
“Torin excels at colours, shapes and animal names!
Torin is a very handsome and charming young man”.
That’s all I know about Torin honestly, and all of that came from their insta bio. International handsome and charming man of mystery Torin Rowe is one of my favourite artists on Instagram. Some of their work reminds me of like, if HR Giger fucked Machine Girl while others are so distinct I can’t draw out obvious influences, creating “scapes” (look at me chatting shit) that are unique and really detailed collages. Big fan of the consistent monochrome also!
Paulie pick: Wren
One of the OG rats of Rat Depot, Wren is also an artist and musician who we enjoy mucho. Their work builds upon a personal aesthetic that is immediately recognisable as theirs. It’s no surprise that Wren has previously written a byline on indie darling Daniel Johnston for Rat Depot, as their work inhabits the same childlike quality. Their music also has a hazy, lo-fi dreamlike texture that is comforting to listen to.
Before we move on, check out Wren’s music on Bandcamp! - tried to embed this but the Bandcamp embed didn’t work, sorry Wren!
One final thing - our Instagram group chat is live, if you’d like to join, make sure you follow Rat Depot on Insta and give me a dm :) We’re all very friendly and you’ll fit right in.
Here’s the insta post promoting THIS letter…magical…
See ya Wednesday for an episode of Rat Depot FM and back again Sunday with more text-based tittle tattle.
Love,
Paulie xoxo