Pencil "plumbago" (Latin for "lead ore"). Because the pencil core is still referred to as "lead", or a "lead", many people have the misconception that the graphite in the pencil is lead, and the black core of pencils is still referred to as "lead", even though it never contained the element lead. The words for pencil in German ("bleistift"), Irish ("peann luaidhe"), Arabic (قلم رصاص "qalam raṣāṣ"), and some other languages literally mean "lead pen". The value of graphite would soon be realised to be enormous, mainly because it could be used to line the moulds for cannonballs; the mines were
Lead Pencil Studio posited by the man-made world." Han and Mihalyo met at the University of Oregon in 1991 while in the architecture program, and their relationship has evolved into a work partnership centered around Lead Pencil Studio. They have also worked in Bellingham, Chicago, Portland, and Seattle, among others. They currently reside in Seattle, Washington. Annie Han was born in Pusan, South Korea in 1967, and attained an accredited Master's equivalent in Architecture (5-year B. Arch) from the University of Oregon in 1993 before studying sculpture for one year at Portland State University in 1994. She is a naturalized US citizen. Daniel