About

The poem, The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost may provide the best description of how Delaware potter, Steve Datz, found his way back to the potter’s wheel. Steve describes his career path as, “more of a winding road than anything else.” Having worked as an electrician, an agricultural extension agent, a trainer/facilitator and software consultant, he developed a wide variety of skills upon which to draw from. “I’ve enjoyed each profession I’ve pursued over the years but always looked for some part of it to remind me of working with clay.” After being introduced to the wheel in middle school, Steve was hooked and learned all he could about the art until other commitments and opportunities drew him away. He attended the University of Delaware, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture, before going on to serve as a Peace Corp volunteer for two years. Upon completing his assignment, Steve remained in Thailand for an additional four years working with local development agencies creating and implementing HIV/AIDS education programs and teaching computer science classes in a Bangkok business school. Returning to the United States, he took up computer programming full time before his desire to reconnect with the things that matter most in his life led him back to ceramics. Today, Steve can mostly be found in his paint-your-own-pottery studio, Your Creation Station, helping others find their way with clay. While it turns out owning and operating a pottery studio leaves precious little time for pottery, Steve manages to find time on the potter’s wheel right in front of the store where he makes all of the work seen here and at craft shows he participates in throughout the year.