Tom Bushery will BeExposed! . . .

Friday June 18th at 6:pm
@ Carolyn’s Coffee Connection

Photo courtesy of Theodore Ruffalo

Tom Bushery has been a potter since some time in the last century. He operates his business, H.L. Potter & Co., in space he rents from The Mudhaus Studios, 6612-26th Avenue, Kenosha. His work is primarily functional wheel thrown pottery, but he tries to always have a few handbuilt pieces in progress.

Tom goes by the nickname “The HairLess Potter” (hence the business name: H.L. Potter & Co.) because “I can’t really call myself “the Hairy Potter”. He offers handbuilding classes at The Mudhaus to kids from 3 to 93, and wheel throwing classes to anyone who is capable of not taking themselves too seriously. One of The Hairless Potter’s favorite quotes is: “Making pottery is how adults get to play in the mud without being considered crazy.” Tom enjoys being totally bonkers (because the best of us are).

The Kenosha Public Museum, Lemon Street Gallery (where Tom is a member), Pollard Gallery, The Nook Café and Gallery, and The Mudhaus Studios in Kenosha have all exhibited Tom’s work, and it is continuously on display and for sale at The Nook and at The Mudhaus. This summer one of his pieces of work will be on display at the Wisconsin Department of Administration headquarters office in Madison.

The “& Co.” in H.L. Potter & Co. is Tom’s wife, Sue Markko, an accomplished mosaic artist. Sue and Tom collaborated on “The Flight of the Coffee Goddess” a 3’ x 4’ mosaic permanently mounted on the front of the coffee bar at The Nook for the enjoyment of the customers.

When Tom is not making pottery, enjoying his 10 grandchildren, or working in the garden of their 100 year old Craftsman Style bungalow, he is usually practicing the art and science of therapeutic massage as a state licensed massage therapist. His specialty is geriatric massage, and he has had a number of clients ranging from 85 to 100 years old; however, he has also practiced pain relief therapeutic massage since his graduation from the Lakeside School of Massage Therapy, using basic Swedish massage, deep tissue techniques, myofascial treatments, trigger point therapy, and muscle energy techniques. Tom was drawn to massage therapy after working with clay for several years, and he observes that the two share a similarity, in that both require him “to see with my hands”.

You can learn more about Tom’s pottery and therapeutic massage arts at his website, www.tombushery.com, which combines both businesses because “I don’t see any reason to separate them. Those are the two things I do.”

When I’m not working in my pottery studio I’m a massage therapist. I got into massage therapy as a second career, and the first thing I noticed is that the tactile aspect of massage therapy is very similar to working with clay…particularly on the wheel. Sensitive touch is a keystone of effective massage therapy: knowing when to apply just the right amount of pressure, for the right reason. I have to give some of the credit for my success as a massage therapist to the experience pottery has given me in “seeing with my hands”.

The “BeExposed!” performance series is a monthly event at Carolyn’s Coffee Connection (1355-52nd Street, Kenosha, WI 53140), spotlighting artists of all disciplines and celebrating the power of creativity.