The Chatham Arts Council is investing in artists through our Meet This Artist series, introducing you to 12 Chatham County artists each year in a big way. The fine folks at Hobbs Architects in downtown Pittsboro are powering our Meet This Artist series this year. Architecture is art, and the Hobbs crew values art in our community. So, take a look. Meet your very inspiring neighbors. Meet ceramic artists Josh and Addie Rudy.
In this interview, Josh Rudy [he/him] and Addie Rudy [they/them] of Rudy Duo Studios share their healing journey through art. Brought together by a series of chance encounters, the couple found solace and inspiration in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic through the art of pottery. From canceled wedding plans to navigating career shifts, their story is a testament to the transformative power of creativity. In this interview, Josh and Addie share the intimate details of their journey, reflecting on how pottery became not only a passion but also a means of connection and contribution within their local community in Chatham County.
How did you two come together?
Addie: Our lives were intertwining before we even met.
Josh: We were set up [by a mutual friend] and after four months, we just kind of knew we were engaged.
Addie Rudy: We got married during the pandemic at Chatham County Detention Center with the magistrate.
Josh Rudy: We had a big wedding that was planned, but then we pushed it back because everything was closed for Covid.
Addie: When we got married, Josh was in a healthier state and still able to work, but he was working from home. He was a high school art teacher at Lee Senior.
Josh: I started teaching in 2012, which sounds like a long time ago. I taught visual art for middle schoolers, and then the next year in another school, and finally in 2014 in Sanford. I taught at Lee Senior High School for, I don’t know, seven or eight years.
That was at a time I could do four jobs a day on four hours of sleep. But slowly, my health issues got worse and worse. Fortunately, I was able to work from home during Covid, and I was able to teach for 45 minutes, then rest. That was really functional for me at that point. But then when I tried to go back to physically teach in the school in 2020, I collapsed.
Addie: By the end of the week, he was in the hospital and was completely immobile.
Josh: I was not able to do anything for almost six months, couldn’t get out of bed. So I went from four hours of sleep a night, as was normal for me, to suddenly needing 18 hours of sleep in a day.
How did Rudy Duo studios come to be?
Josh: During Covid . . . well, Addie always said, “I’m not an artist. I can’t do–”
Addie: No, I said, “I can’t draw.”
Josh: You wouldn’t have considered yourself an artist. So I was like, “I can teach you to draw, I can teach you to do any kind of art. I just have to find one that you’re interested in, one that you’re ready for.” So I was teaching everything from home for, I guess, almost two years.
Addie: It started with me getting involved because the pandemic did a lot to my mental health, which was already not in a great spot. And Josh would say, “Just put your hands on this; you’ve got to let yourself fail at it. Just try.” And I felt so many things just melt away, and I was able to put myself into something: create. I think we fell in love with it from that experience. And we were like, “We need to build a studio. We need to keep this going.”
Josh: And since we had canceled our wedding, we were able to take the funds from that and purchase what we needed for our studio. We recognized a rich culture of pottery in the area. Our goal was to create a space where people with a desire to create could come in and get their hands dirty and walk away with something they made. We built our studio, and we’ve been able to get some supplies together for that. We began teaching ourselves and having some of my teacher friends come over to teach each other. It’s been a really neat journey for us.
It sounds like art has given you both an opportunity to make peace and find joy through hard times.
Addie: It’s taken a while. Life very much halted for both of us, and we’ve had to restructure–
Josh: And continue to restructure. It’s always different. Every day it goes and comes. I’m diagnosed with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which affects connective tissue and causes chronic fatigue and a lot of other things.
I quit driving the day before I went to the emergency room, and I was like, “I don’t know if I’m going to make it home. Maybe I should just stop here.” So I stopped driving that day and I realized, I’m not leaving Pittsboro. But, I am going to be independent. I’m going to do stuff around town. So I just became more and more involved. Now I serve as the chair of Pittsboro’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. I am very passionate about green spaces and the community. I’m also on the design committee, which serves under the Pittsboro Downtown Advisory Board. We focus on how we can make downtown Pittsboro even more beautiful and drive tourism.
Addie: I think it’s interesting because we come from such different backgrounds and Covid has affected us differently. Josh was an art teacher, so that was already in his life and he didn’t really have to change anything. He just started teaching pottery. For me, I’m in tech and all of a sudden it was like, everything’s different. I went from being in a technical role to being in a managerial role. Pottery became something I was doing on the weekends or after work, but it’s something I could bring in to help with my mental health and say, “I’m in charge of this. I’m the artist. I’m the one making the creative decisions.” I mean, I had a teacher right there to help me, but it was very empowering. I think we both needed it, in different ways, during Covid.
We’ve been able to find a balance in our roles in the studio. I’ve taken over the more artistic stuff, and Josh is handling more of the technical stuff.
Talk to me about your artistic process. What does role does art play in your lives?
Josh: I just love the creative process. I love the final result, but I also truly love the process. That’s something that Addie and I have been able to connect on because we have such different views of that creative process.
Addie: It’s a way to flow your energy. I am a believer that everybody has energy. They put it out into the world, and it intertwines and interacts. I feel like art helps the qi flow in the right direction, so to speak. I feel like it aligns your mind and your body and your soul. It’s not just pottery. It’s whatever brings you that passion.
Before, I was always around music, but never really visual art. I was just never around it. Now, being immersed in it has created a whole space for me. As someone who is queer, there is self discovery in it. I think with clay especially, there’s a fluidity of discovery in it. I’m discovering that this hunk of dirt is constantly something different. And today it is this, but tomorrow it’s going to be something completely different, whatever it wants to be.
What is next for Rudy Duo Studio?
Josh: So, we have this studio.
Addie: We also have four acres, so sometimes we’ll go out in the woods and make art.
Josh: And I’m going to be a beekeeper!
Addie: We just got the hive box today. We’ve done raku firings in our fire pit. At some point, we want to build an in-ground kiln out in the woods because we have some nice hills to build it into. It’s such a natural art form. I feel really connected to earth when I’m doing pottery. I don’t know, I just feel grounded through it.
Josh: Yeah, I think that’s where my direction is, too: making pottery that goes in the garden and making more exciting gardens and outdoor spaces. I’m all about my spaces! I’ve also gotten involved with some of the community projects here in town. I’m helping with the pop-up park here in Pittsboro, through my role with the downtown design committee. The question was “How can we make this space more pretty?”
Addie: We’re finding ways to use our pottery and our skills to give back to the community.
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Beautiful story of how art truly saves lives! Thank you both for sharing! ❤️