Fishink Bits n Bobs.

I was recently contacted by Jeremy Craddock (nice hat)

the deputy editor of the Warrington Guardian who also writes a blog called Bookengine.

His site celebrates children’s writers, fiction and illustration and I was privileged to be invited to contribute. You can see the article here and possibly learn a little more about me and what makes me tick, squeak and whirr ! lol Jeremy has written about some of children’s literary greats such as Roald Dahl and Philip Reeve. Thanks again Jeremy for the chance to take part.

From something new to something rather old, about four and a half billion years old to be precise.

Back in the year 2000, a 1,003 kilogram (2,211 lbs) meteorite was discovered near Fukang, a city located in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, China. Named the ‘Fukang meteorite‘, it was identified as a pallasite, a type of stony–iron meteorite, with striking olivine crystals throughout. Pallasites are extremely rare even among meteorites (only about 1% of all meteorites are this type) and Fukang has been hailed as one of the greatest meteorite discoveries of the 21st century.

The Fukang pallasite is believed to originate from deep inside intact meteors created during the formation of the solar system about 4.5 billion years ago and very few specimens are thought to have survived their descent through Earth’s atmosphere.

An anonymous group of collectors currently holds the largest portion which weighs 419.5 kg (925 pounds). In 2008 they attempted to sell it at auction at Bonham’s in New York for approximately $2 million but did not receive any bidders. A total of 31 kilograms (68 lb) of the specimen is on deposit at University of Arizona’s Southwest Meteorite Laboratory.

(Information sources: Twister Sifter, Meteoritical Society, Southwest Meteorite Laboratoy, The Michael Farmer Collection, DailyMail, Wikipedia)

I thought the images were amazing and it reminded me of looking up into a canopy of trees when the sun’s shining. It still excites me a little to think that we are all made of stars !

From stars to carbon or rather Carbonmade. My site for showcasing my work has just added some new options for showing your talents with respect to attracting commercial clients. You can see the new additions to my site here.

Last but not least, my good friends Sarah and Carrole Morpeth are taking part in the Northumberland Open Studios in June. Contact either on their Website for more details regarding opening times etc. One not to be missed. Here’s some info on both of them from an earlier blogposting.