American composer & musician Harold Budd started writing the 59 poems in this new collection during his first collaboration with artist Jane Maru, a collection of her short films and his accompanying scores, Jane 1–11. It was, however, her batik paintings on silk that he first encountered, and it is these batiks that form the vibrant visual core for Aurora Teardrops.
Interleaved throughout the book are six of Jane Maru’s batik paintings, reproduced as folios in full color on traditional drafting vellum, a semi-transparent sheet that creates a visual effect similar to the original works on silk. Being semi-transparent, these prints both interrupt and overlay Harold’s poems, creating an interaction between the two artists similar to their live musical performances of the Aurora Teardrops poems. Each of the Deluxe copies also includes, as a frontis, an original watercolor painting by Jane.
The poems are set in Pablo Impallari’s digital version of Cancellaresca Bastarda, with Umbra for titles, and printed from polymer plates. The book also includes a handful of Harold’s arabesque drawings interspersed, printed in bronze, and a facsimile of his score for “It's Steeper Near the Roses,” a short chamber composition dedicated to David Sylvian from Harold’s 2006 album Avalon Sutra.
Aurora Teardrops was issued in Deluxe and Collector’s editions. The 26 Deluxe copies (lettered A-Z, plus 8 numbered copies for the contributors) are printed on dampened T.H. Saunders wove paper. Jane’s watercolor frontis is painted on Royal Watercolour Society handmade paper. The book (56 pp + prints, 7.75 x 10.25 inches) is sewn on tapes and cased-in: long-fibered handmade Japanese paper was used for the spine and endpapers, attached to thin transparent acrylic boards through which two additional (front & back) prints of Jane's paintings are displayed – essentially the flyleaves become the case’s vibrant cover. Issued in a paper-covered slipcase. The Deluxe copies are signed by Harold Budd, Jane Maru & David Sylvian.
The Collector’s edition consists of 50 numbered copies (no hors de commerce copies), printed from the same setting as the Deluxe edition, on dampened Golden Hind laid paper. These copies (59 pp + prints, 7.25 x 9.75 inches) are sewn on tapes and cased in painted paper over boards; each copy is unique, the paper being stained with metallic gold and bronze paints. The Collector’s copies are signed by Harold Budd and Jane Maru.
