Fire pottery AND glass in Paragon’smulti-purpose cone 10 kilns

Janus-2424” wide x 22 ½” deep

15” high interior

Janus-2322 ½” wide20 ¼” deep

10-sided interior The Janus-24 has elements in thetop, sides, back, and door. Thetop elements use our pinless fire-brick groove.

Janus-2728” wide

22 ¼” deep12-sided interior

Janus-161316 ½” wide13 ¼” deep

8-sided interior

Paragon Janus-series kilns can fireboth pottery and glass. Heating ele-

ments are mounted in the top and side-walls. Imagine the exciting pieces youcould make in a Janus kiln.

Selection switchSelect between glass and pottery with

the flip of a switch. With the switch in theglass position, heat comes from the top el-ements and the middle sidewall element.With the switch in the pottery position,heat comes from only the sidewall ele-ments.

In the glass mode, fuse and sag largeglass projects placed on a single shelf. Inthe pottery mode, fire to cone 10. You canalso fire several shelves of smaller glasspieces using the pottery mode.

Pinless top elementsThe elements in the lid/roof are

mounted in a firebrick “ball” groove thateliminates element pins. The element coilsare wider than the groove opening, so theelements stay in place without pins. Thegroove dissipates heat efficiently.

Unique spring-assisted lidThe lids on the Janus-23 and Janus-27

top-loading kilns are easy to lift with theexclusive, patented Paragon spring coun-ter-balance. A truss permits the lid tofloat, allowing for expansion of the lid.This promotes the long life of the bricks.(Ask competitors if their lids have thesefeatures.) Lift the lid with only 13 poundsof pressure.

2” blank top bricksFor easier maintenance, we use 2” high

blank wall bricks in the top row of the Ja-nus-23 and Janus-27. Since the brick iswithout element grooves, it is less suscep-tible to damage during loading.

Easy-access control boxThe patented control box on the Ja-

nus-23 and Janus-27 opens forward foreasy maintenance. A folding support armholds the box in the open position.

Other Features• Digital Sentry 2.0: Cone-Fire with

programmed slow cooling and20-Segment Ramp-Hold. Manufac-tured by the Orton Ceramic Founda-tion exclusively for Paragon.

• Glass/pottery selection switch• 3” insulating refractory firebrick walls• Janus-24: Operate the door latch with

one hand.• Sidewall elements in dropped, recessed

brick grooves are easy to replace.• Tapered peepholes for a wide view• A steel floor pan supports the entire brick

bottom of each kiln.• One year limited warranty• Available in 240, 200, 208, or 380 volt, 50

or 60 hertz, single or 3 phase.• Since Janus kilns are designed for por-

celain, they also easily fire ceramics,china paint, decals, gold and, of course,glass.

• The Sentry controller is mounted at thetop of the switch box for comfortable op-eration. Ask about the AOP vent, whichcontrols the KilnVent. Choose to auto-matically turn off the vent at firing maturityor at the end of cooling.

For more details, see your nearest Para-gon dealer, or call for a free catalog.

2011 South Town East Blvd.Mesquite, Texas 75149-1122800-876-4328 / 972-288-7557Toll Free Fax 888-222-6450www.paragonweb.cominfo@paragonweb.comWhy buy two when one will do?

4 Fired Arts & Crafts • www.firedartsandcrafts.com

TAB LE OFcontents Februar y 2009

Lovely Lentil in P ure SilverBy Alexandra DainiThis pendant is sleek, simple and elegant with a touch oftexture and accented with a contrasting brass bail.

Fantastic Frits : Casting Frit with aP urchased M oldBy Karen ReedIn her ongoing series, Karen demonstrates how to castglass frit using a purchased mold.

Stamp Your Hear t OutBy Mike HarbridgeShow your love for someone by creating one of theseheartfelt projects for Valentine’s Day.

Snuggle W eatherBy Tammy SwordsSpend a cozy night in drybrushing this cuddly moose couple.

Potter y on the W heel: Goblets —Offthe HumpBy Yosuke Koizumi and Cindy Gard- KoizumiThrowing off the hump allows the artist to create severalpieces in quick succession. Yosuke and Cindy show youhow by creating goblets.

Finis hing Touches : Stamping It Up...on Ceramic Sur facesBy Mike HarbridgeStamping is all the rage in the ceramics world these days!Mike gives a few tips and techniques for creatively usingstamps in your clay and bisque projects.

The P haraohBy Duncan Staff ArtistAncient Egypt is the inspiration behind this art projectwith cross- curricular ties to literature and history.

Dream GirlBy Marcia RoullardWith stamped hearts in shades of purple over princess-themed bisque, these pieces are as girly as they come!

FE B R UAR Y 2 0 0 9featuresVolume 55 Issue 2

Fired Arts & Crafts, ( USPS 499-530, ISSN 0009-0190) is published monthly by Jones Publishing, Inc.,N7450 Aanstad Rd, P.O. Box 5000, Iola, WI 54945-5000, ( 715) 445-5000. Subscription rates: $39.95per year ( Canada/Mexico $59.95; International $69.95 drawn on U.S. Bank) . Periodical postage is paidat Iola, WI 54945 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Jones

Publishing, Inc., N7450 Aanstad Rd, P.O. Box 5000, Iola, WI 54945-5000. Publications Agreement No.40049720. Please allow eight weeks for address changes to become effective. Copyright © 2009, byJones Publishing, Inc. This book, or any article, design illustration or part thereof, may not be reproducedcommercially without the written permission of the publisher. Printed in the U.S.A.

FE B R UAR Y 2 0 0 9departments

6 Editor ’s Letter

6 Q & A

7 M asthead

22 R eadership Sur vey

46 Talk ing Shop

48 Event Calendar

49 Shopper’s Guide

50 Adver tis ing Index

8

12

17

31

37

40

44

20

20

44

February 2009 • Fired Arts & Crafts 5

S ta r l i teMo ld

Com pany

S ta r l i teMo ld

Com panyNEW HOME OF DONA ’S / MADE IN

FIR E CER AMIC P R ODU CTSFor a distributor near you, go to

www.duncanceramics.com and www.albertas.com

1518 S. Washington • Wichita, KS 67211phone: 316-262-3350 • fax: 316-262-1396

www. s ta r l i temo lds . com

Duncan/Scioto Mold Catalog* $9.50Alberta Mold Catalog* $8.50Duncan Classics Mold Catalog* $8.50Scioto Classics Mold Catalog* $9.50Scioto Doll Mold Catalog* $5.00Dona’s/MadeinFire Mold Catalog* $9.50

*Plus Postage

www. s ta r l i temo lds . com

6 Fired Arts & Crafts • www.firedartsandcrafts.com

FI R E D AR T Sq&aq

a

Keep O n Keeping O n

E DI T OR ’Sletter

We’re all feeling the effects of the economicdownturn in one way or another. And ac-cording to economic forecasts, it will be awhile before the end is in sight. So whatdoes thatmean tous whomake our living inor enjoy fired art and crafts? Getting into thefired arts can be a little pricey, but as with

anything, once some of those initial investments are made, byand by each project is a little less of an expense. For those of youwhoalready have a kiln and all the tools and equipment neededfor the craft, the initial investment has already been made, andcontinuing the craft in these hard economic times shouldn’t betoodifficult. If you own a ceramics shop or fired arts studio, luck-ily, clay and slip are cheap, andmany of the molds, new or old,are timeless in style. The same holds true for glass artists—al-though glass may be a little more expensive, one project’s scrapsmay be the inspiration behind your next project.

Surprisingly, the economic downturn may offer an opportu-nity to the owners of ceramic and fired arts studios. As I men-tioned before, the initial investment in these shops has alreadybeen made, and in a slowing economy, there is potential forgrowth in these businesses. Think about it: What services doceramics or fired arts studios offer? Most shops usually holdclasses once or twice a week. These classes are generally anopen studiowhere the attendee pays a small fee. The attendeechooses a piece off the shelf to create, and can purchase theirown stains or glazes from the studio for a relatively small fee.Basically, it’s a cheap night out with friends. While chatting to-gether, customers get a chance to be creative andmake some-thing they can keep for themselves, give away as a gift, or sellat a craft fair. It’s a justifiable weekly expense. For less than thecost of a movie, the customer spends a night with friends,makes Christmas gifts and is able tobe relieve some stress. Witha little creativity and word-of-mouth advertising, a shop ownercan promote these great services provided at their studio. Whoknows? Maybe ceramics and fired arts studios will have to ex-pand their class offerings during this otherwise hard economictime—just a thought.

Best,

Heidi Heideman, Editor

When I create clay tiles, I have trouble with them curl-ing up on the edges and not staying flat. How can Iprevent this from happening?

It’s best to place tiles on newspaper placed on top ofdrywall. Then place a few layers of newspaper on topwith a piece of drywall over it all. Usually weighing itall down prevents the tiles fromwarping. During firing,place some kiln posts across the top of the tiles to alsoprevent warping.