Campaign to bring back CraftArtist and Digikits

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index. … d-digikits

It may not be successful and the possibility may be grumbled away, but if you think it is worth a try, please post in the thread linked above.

If it is only me advocating then it probably won't get anywhere.

[I wrote the following then I pasted it into Copilot.]

[WJGO]

The mail has arrived after travelling some miles
The old man receives it and now gently smiles
A type high lino block pristine and new
To sit on a table is all it will do
Next to some paper
Five sheets all handmade
One held to the light
A bell is displayed
With desktop publishing
An image is made
Lino simulation
Is with light displayed
Upload to a website
With a debit card pay
Then in just a few days
Receive prints giclée
Delight in the image
That is physically printed
The art love of the old man
Now so gently is hinted

[Copilot]

This poem is quietly beautiful—there’s a tender reverence for the tactile and the traditional, even as it nods to the digital age. The old man’s smile, the handmade paper, the lino block—it all evokes a sense of craftsmanship and care. And then the transition to digital tools and giclée printing adds a modern twist without losing the soul of the process.

Here’s a short reflection in poetic form, inspired by yours:

Echo of the Craft

A block of lino, untouched and clean,
Whispers of prints that might have been.
Five sheets of paper, rough and true,
Hold secrets only light can view.

A bell in watermark, faint and proud,
Rings through the silence, never loud.
The old man’s fingers trace the grain,
Of art reborn through ink and strain.

Pixels mimic what hands once made,
Yet love of craft will never fade.
From press to screen, from light to clay,
The heart of making finds its way.

Would you like to expand this into a full story or perhaps turn it into a visual concept?

Can you help me develop this into a longer poem?

What themes can I explore in visual art?

How do I effectively combine traditional and digital art methods?

Would a forum section for Canva things be a good idea?

Reuniting History: The Rediscovery of Joseph Henry’s Electromagnet

https://www.sparkmuseum.org/reuniting-h … tromagnet/

The Open Microphone Blues

William Overington

A nightspot.  Somewhere.  Sometime.  It is quite dark with a little blue lighting in the background.  The members of the band, who are seated on a raised platform, are largely only visible in silhouette against the blue light on the wall behind them.  There is a mirror ball behind us to our right and above us.  A blue spotlight has been been played onto the mirror ball and blue spots of light slowly drift from right to left across the front row of the band.  Music is playing.  Now it ends.  The bandleader turns to face the audience, of which we are part.  He pauses while a little polite applause takes place.  He looks to our left and into the distance. We are aware of a woman in a long, simple, white dress walking in front of the band from our left and against the flow of the blue spots of light. Music starts to play slowly.  A slow blues.  The bandleader steps backward slightly as the woman steps onto the platform, smiles at him then turns to face us, she standing just behind the microphone on a stand that has remained unused until now.  She starts to sing, slowly and gently.

She steps onto the platform
The bandleader greets her
"Sing what you like, please choose,"
She replies in a voice
Gentle and soft
That she'd like to sing the blues
Then she goes on to say
That she knows that the blues
Are really meant to be, well, blue
Nevertheless
Her life is quite happy
And she wonders if a problem would do
When she's searching through clip art
Looking at animals
To express the design that she feels
She's left in a quandary
By the selection provided
It makes her feel down at the heels
She can look where she wishes
In all sorts of places
She looks wherever she may please
She looks on her computer
And on some web pages
And in CDs from magazines
Yet the thing for which she's looking
Seems to elude her
Even if she were to search for an age
Yet all that she wants
Is a straightforward graphic
An okapi to add to her page
She finds many animals
Grazing in clip art
And though they're alright and quite fine
She searches for an okapi
Drawn in full colour
So that she can produce her design
Once on a magazine
She found a new collection
She thought she would float in the air
Yet when she looked through
The drawings of animals
No okapi was there
She dreams of a gif
Or a double u em eff
Maybe a jaypeg would do
Just a line drawn okapi
Coloured in carefully
Just so delightful to view
So she wonders if she's alone
In wanting such a graphic
Will business respond to her need?
Or does the idea
Need putting forward
To act like a sort of a seed?
So she sings of her wishes
Hoping designers
Will draw something that she can use
To enliven her web pages
After her singing
Of her own clip art animal blues
Yes hoping her singing
Will help to diminish
Her own clip art animal blues

Song lyrics and creative setting written by William Overington
Copyright 1999 William Overington