Meet La Ru, creator and Owner of Robot vs Sloth

La Ru (Lauren Rudeck) is a Seattle based artist and illustrator. She’s also a licensed architect (with a Masters in Architecture from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY) and certified in Upper Elementary Montessori education (from NAMC). Originally from the Bronx, but grew up mainly in Colorado and Idaho, she’s been in Seattle for nearly 20 years.

In 2008, when the recession hit, her hours were cut at the architecture firm she was working at. She started focusing on her art and hosting monthly craft nights. After a friend’s mom convinced her to share a booth at a craft show, she was hooked and so started her artist career as La Ru.

In 2012, she opened her first retail store with another artist called Ugly Baby and La Ru (located on the back side of the Pike Place Market). After 6 years, they had outgrown the space, so La Ru decided to move up to 1st Avenue and opened Robot vs Sloth.

Since the shop on 1st Avenue was larger, Lauren was able to showcase an expanded line of her work as well 11 other Seattle artists. Robot vs Sloth has grown to now feature over 50 (mostly) local artists.

Lauren dreamed of opening a second location and at the end of 2024 signed the lease for a space in Magnolia. The second shop should open late spring/early summer of 2025.

Her next dream is to publish books with stories of Robot vs Sloth and to create a Robot vs Sloth tarot deck.

Lauren has been published numerous publications and blogs including The Handmade Marketplace (Second Edition), the Seattle Times, and Seattle's Child. La Ru has also created crafting tutorials for Sakura of America and Epson. In 2014 and 2015 she was a presenter at Craftcation Conference in Ventura, CA.