By Carol Reece

Michael Pushkin is getting ready for the 13th annual Berkeley Springs Studio Tour this Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 14 and 15. But if you visit his studio - stop F on the tour - don't be surprised if you get a Tai Chi demonstration or a sample massage, with the purchase of your new leather handbag.

Pushkin, a certified licensed massage therapist, divides his work hours between what he calls "his two kinds of leather". That is, he creates his leather work inventory when he's not working with his massage therapy clients at The Bath House in Berkeley Springs.

Pushkin said he has always been self-employed. His entire work life he has avoided the typical 9-5 work routine. He has never had a boss over him, never punched a time clock.

Instead, Pushkin has had an independent lifestyle working for himself. A native New Yorker, he graduated from the Bronx High School of Science - a school reserved for New York City's top students. Physiology was his favorite course there. Little did he know that 40 years later he would be putting that knowledge to practical everyday use.

Pushkin majored in psychology at Hunter College in New York City. However, upon graduation, a group of friends introduced him to the craft of working with leather.

In 1970, he became part of the group known as Tinker Hill Leather, twenty-nine years later, Pushkin still spends his time at his cutting table and Juki industrial sewing machine crafting purses, carry bags, and jackets of leather, one item at a time He favors fashion leather that is embossed and dyed with patterns and colors, though he also uses solid color hides.

Pushkin and Tinker Hill Leather were located in upstate New York, near Albany. About 20 years ago, he visited a friend in the Tri-State area, fell in love with it, and, within 30 days, moved to Morgan County. Tinker Hill sold its products traveling to craft fairs in various cities, enabling him to live anywhere. Pushkin has made his living all this time selling his leather work, carting his booth to venues all over the east coast. He was part of the crafts movement that mushroomed in the 1970's, and he found it exciting to set business goals and make them happen. He achieved a respected place in the crafts community, and was accepted to exhibit in America's top art fairs. He went solo along the way: his leather now bears just his name.

Pushkin admits he never really made enough income from his leather business to "be really comfortable." "I wouldn't change a thing if I could do it all over again," he added. "The lifestyle is great. You couldn't buy it."

Pushkin has made many friends in the crafts community, has gotten to travel the East Coast and Midwest to about 20 shows a year, and has been able to set his own hours though they turned out to be much longer than 9-5.

"I often work 16 hour days," he said. Pushkin enjoys having made people happy by creating items they treasure... that he made with his hands. He even met his life partner, Sandy Kay, a potter, at a craft show.

About five years ago, Pushkin, and other craftspeople, began to notice a downtrend in craft show sales. Shows were everywhere, all the time, and some speculate that customer interest began to drop off.

So, Pushkin decided he had to find something else to do to supplement his income. Pushkin's hobby all along has been what is known as alternative health practices. He had learned of and experienced the benefits of therapeutic massage, had studied the Chinese Martial Arts as Tai Chi and Chi Gong, and had studied acupressure points that when, pressed relieve stress and pain in the human body.

He is fascinated with the fact that wisdom of these practices is filtered through a 5,000-year history. Pushkin followed up on his interest in alternative healing and decided to try basic course in massage.

"Three weeks into the class, I realized that massage was something I wanted to do," he said.

He continued his studies his studies to become certified by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork.

Living in Morgan County he was able to see how the historic spa town of Berkeley Springs was becoming more and more a center for alternative health, creating job openings for massage therapists. Once certified, Pushkin worked at The Country Inn and Coolfont Resort, before finding the right massage situation for him - a room at the Bath House on Fairfax Street in Berkeley Springs.

He is a self-employed independent contractor. Unlike other spas in Berkeley Springs, The Bath House specializes in therapeutic massage.

Pushkin works on people of all ages. Some want a massage to relieve stress and to relax, but many have serious pain and/or limited range of motion in various parts of their body because of muscular problems.

He recently worked on a 12 year-old boy who had been to medical doctors. Doctors aren't usually trained in massage, and in this case, massage was what the doctor should have ordered, he said.

Pushkin said the boy's problem was somewhat relieved after his first massage.

"I like that - making people feel good," he said. "And in that way, it is the same as making leather crafts."

Pushkin is still building his massage practice, which has doubled since 1998. He takes extra classes on occasion, recently completing one in neuromuscular therapy.

One difference in the business side of being a massage therapist as opposed to being a leather worker, is that the number of massages he can give in a week is limited to what he can realistically do - about 25. Whereas, he could theoretically hire people to make unlimited leather products. The massage business is also cyclical.

"I might work 14 days straight without a day off," he said.

Pushkin laments the fact that massages do not come cheap. An hour massage can easily cost $50. It is slowly becoming more mainstream, however, and he hopes that one day more people will be more in charge of their own health and be able to walk into his massage room with a doctor's prescription.

For now, he would like to educate people to the fact that money spent on massage can sometimes prevent more costly illnesses later on and days missed from work.

This article is reprinted by permission. Originally published in the August 11, 1999 edition of the The Journal's "Neighbors" supplement.