This is the blog of Erzebet YellowBoy Carr: artist, author, editor, bookbinder. The name erzaveria comes from the conjunction of my name and the name of my first small press, Papaveria.

When people ask me what I do for a living, or just what I do, my answer is usually I make stuff. It’s true, I make a lot of stuff, and I am known in certain circles for this stuff I make. My books, book-art, paintings, drawings, the things I’ve written, this collection of stuff — I look at it all and think yes, it’s a good body of work. I have seen angels and set them free. I don’t do it for acclaim, for profit, or for recognition. I make stuff because I have no choice in the matter, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Once upon a time, I was an angel in the marble. Had I not been born with this holy obsession to create things, there I would have remained. The marble I speak of resulted from severe abuse, from tragedy, from the kinds of things that will keep a person from realising any of their potential. Things that can forever impact the way a person experiences themselves and the world in which they live. The obsession to create works of art — to make stuff — enabled me to chip my own self out of that marble and without it, I’m fairly certain I would not have survived.

So while I say I am an artist, an author, an editor, and a bookbinder, above all else my life is a testament to the transformative powers of creativity. I’d rather be remembered as an example that such transformation is possible, than for any of the stuff I’ve made.

“Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.” — Albert Einstein