Color of Woman Initiate Book
Final Requirement for Certification
OVERVIEW
As a culmination and honoring of your journey, the final submission required for certification is a creative portfolio of images and writing documenting your Color of Woman Quest. We call this document your Initiate Book!
Think of this book as an artist's portfolio representative of a unique body of work from your Training. This is intended to be a personal project and you have latitude in design, and what you choose to include. You'll keep a treasured copy for yourself and submit an official copy into the Color of Woman Teacher Training archives at Musea:
MUSEA : Intentional Creativity
75 Fremont Drive
Sonoma, CA 95476
USA
CREATING YOUR BOOK
The Initiate Book will be printed and mailed, so while you have flexibility in how you create it, plan for your final product to be a simple binding for easy handling and storage. (This means a book that will store flat on a shelf or in a box, with no super bulky style three ring binding and no external objects or ribbons.)
As long as the final product is easy to store, you have latitude to create your Initiate Book in the way that works for you. Here are the standard approaches:
- If you are technologically inclined and love design, there are a number of online publishers which produce beautiful photo album style books worth the extra cost! Previous classes most recommend www.blurb.com (Blurb.ca in Canada). You can use their template or upload a PDF. Other companies include Bookwrite, Shutterfly, Flipsnack, InDesign, LULU, Mixbook. If you use blurb or another photo book option, it's worth starting with their templates and adding text & images as you go! Long learning curves are more fun.
- Most common approach is to build up a source document in Word or Pages* (whichever you have on your computer). Insert your writings and images into the document as you complete them. When your document is complete you can save it as a pdf which can be printed and bound at a local or online shop - ie Staples online. (The complete pdf can also be uploaded to some photo book sites.)
*Because we found that formatting photos and images is difficult in Google Docs we do not recommend that you use that system for compiling your document. - If you are technology allergic consider printing your writings and pictures as you go - in duplicate. Then at the end assemble the book manually and bring it to a local print shop to bind.
WHAT TO INCLUDE
All Initiate Books must include:
- Cover Page with your name, training and year. What image will you choose? What title will you give the Quest?
- Table of Contents with page numbers.
- Introduction letter with an overview of the story of your quest, creating a context for the photos and writings included.
- Selected photos from pivotal creative process, including the Foundational paintings, with explanations as needed.
- Selected Writings and Poems
- Photos of personally significant in person or online workshops and circles with testimonials and explanations as needed.
- About page with bio, artist statement links and updated photo of yourself.
Examples of Initiate Books Submissions
Note that the previous year portfolios included ALL assignments. You will pick and choose for your submission.
Click the cover images below to access
Julie O Glee via Blurb
Elsie Chang via Mixbook
