The Unlimited Potential of Creative Partnerships And Collaborations

On The Table Read, “the best creativity magazine in the UK“, David Ellis and Cendrine Marrouat share their creative process and why creative partnerships can be full of unlimited potential.

Written by David Ellis and Cendrine Marrouat

https://abpositiveart.com/

When thinking about creativity, the most important questions we can ask ourselves are where our ideas come from and where we can get hold of more of them!

Every single one of us are inherently original because we have our own specific emotional experiences that we can draw upon. While many of these experiences are relatable to others, they are our own individual stories to be able to tell and share with our peers.

So, how can we foster, nurture, develop and expand our creativity further?

Develop Creativity

There are a lot of different techniques at our disposal to harness or develop creativity. This can be done primarily through taking in new material via reading books (not just fiction but non-fiction as well, especially since unusual or unique facts can constantly spark inspiration in our subconscious minds), listening to the radio/music, watching films/plays/theatre, or even observing face to face interactions/conversations of other people in our immediate environments.

There is one thing though that can be an excellent catalyst for creativity that is often missed in the mix and that is getting in touch with fellow artists / photographers / writers, with a view to forming a creative partnership / alliance with them.

Creative Partnerships

When establishing these creative partnerships, it helps enormously to define what your common, unified goals are and how you expect to achieve them all by utilising the talents and skills of all parties involved. Ultimately, the intention should be to generate a shared consciousness, where all resources and thoughts are pooled together to assemble a whole that can at times become even greater than the sum of its individual parts!

Auroras & Blossoms

In 2019, Cendrine Marrouat and David Ellis co-founded Auroras & Blossoms, an inspirational art platform responsible for writing / editing / publishing anthologies; creating writer / artist guides; inventing written and visual art forms encouraging a variety of artistic expressions; and even starting a movement, in the form of PoArtMo (Positive Art Month/ Positive Actions Rally Thoughts & Momentum).

Auroras & Blossoms began as a digital poetry magazine. But after a few issues, we decided to open the door to a larger diversity of people, including essayists, short story writers, and visual artists like painters, drawing artists, and photographers.

PoArtMo

A year later, we realised that the magazine portion of our platform was not generating enough interest. We were disappointed of course, but we knew that we had other things to offer. The very successful releases of The Auroras & Blossoms NaPoWriMo Anthology: 2020 Edition and of Volume 1 of The Auroras & Blossoms PoArtMo Anthology helped us understand what artists and readers were looking for.

The PoArtMo Anthology became our flagship publication. Since then, we have released two separate volumes every year.

1. In every edition of the PoArtMo Anthology (adult version), we share the space with a selected number of contributors. This year, we partnered with drawing artist Azelle Elric and essayist Meaghan Beatty to create an eclectic collection featuring beautiful drawings, memorable essays, and catchy poetry.

Link to trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgJFCf0y5bI

Link to book: https://abpositiveart.com/poartmo-anthology-3

2. In the PoArtMo Anthology (Youth Edition), we let promising writers between the ages of 13 and 16 do the talking. We are still looking for more submissions before we can announce the release of volume 2, though. If you know a young creative, please send them our way: https://abpositiveart.com/youth/. 

Link to volume 1: https://abpositiveart.com/poartmo-anthology-youth-edition/

Pushing Creativity

While we are happy with the books we have released individually over the years, our partnership has also pushed the envelope of our creativity. It also constantly forces us to get out of our comfort zone. Our two very different, albeit complementary, styles are an asset, allowing us to publish one-of-a-kind books together. We know that very few contemporary writers have done it like us.

One example of such uniqueness is Rhythm Flourishing, a multimedia book featuring two of the poetry forms we invented—the Kindku and the Sixku. The pieces are inspired by well-known poets like Elizabeth Bishop, Emily Dickinson, John Keats, William Butler Yeats, and Maya Angelou.

Link to trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-91a7TDcLc&list=PLtPlKCXyeUp1kjZ0iAEV55PHL0a0onjbR

Link to book: https://abpositiveart.com/rhythm-flourishing/

Another good example is our upcoming release A Particle of You: Love Poetry. The poems in the book invite readers to seek love and learn from its multilayered moments. In a world that has turned love into a commodity and complex concept, we believe that this collection can inspire people to see things differently.

Link to trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em9UddIcF60

Link to book: https://abpositiveart.com/particle-you.

Shared Vision And Passion

All of this became possible because we both had a uniquely simple, shared vision and passion to continually produce inspirational projects that have a positive impact on people all around the world. We constantly bounce ideas off of each other, endless variations on themes that are as rewarding to us as they are to others. By remaining true to our roots, being supportive of each other, and realising that whatever we do, it should contribute towards the greater good of the partnership, we have forged a collective that is relentlessly inspiring, magical, and endearing in the extreme.

Here, it is important to stress that a friendship and business partnership like ours are very rare. They continue yielding incredible results, despite the fact that we have never met in real life (we will one day soon!), because we value mutual respect, honesty, and open communication.

Creative Journey Partnership

We took the time to get to know each other before launching Auroras & Blossoms. This helped us set realistic expectations and understand how we could make this creative journey together work. In almost four years, we have had to take several detours. But our flexibility, business acumen, and positive outlook on life have always won the day. 

Collaborations can take projects in directions you would never have thought of on your own. You can experiment with styles that can complement / enhance your own and each other’s creative output. Finally, you also can tap into audiences you would have never managed to get into yourself because of the spheres of influence that we have are different for each other as well.

Find more from David Ellis and Cendrine Marrouat now:

Cendrine Marrouat:

Website: https://creativeramblings.com

Blog: https://creativeramblings.com/latest-posts/

Books: https://creativeramblings.com/books

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/cendrinemarrouat

Twitter: https://twitter.com/haiku_shack

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haikushack

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/cendrinemarrouat

David Ellis:

Website: https://toofulltowrite.com

Email: davidellisbusiness@gmail.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/toofulltowrite

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TooFullToWrite

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TooFullToWrite

Auroras & Blossoms:

Website: https://abpositiveart.com/

Blog: https://medium.com/auroras-blossoms

Books: https://abpositiveart.com/store/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ab_positiveart

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abpositiveart

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