AVM Hawkins exploring New Orleans art galleries.
“The inspiration to be an artist is not merely to survive on one’s art, but to live the life of an artist — to live a life fueled by inspiration and to seek it in all things. To express freely, across all mediums and creative forms.”
Inspiration can be found in a cup of coffee or in a child’s eyes. It lives in the embrace of a loved one or the experience of live music. Art is everywhere — it lives in everything. The key is to be open to find inspiration and the willingness to receive it. An artist, merely codifies it into physical form.
To be an artist is not only to create, but to live life fully.
Pursuing the things that bring joy, enthusiasm and inspiration, while also expressing love, kindness and compassion for one another fuels art.
Living life fully, experiencing all emotions, good and bad, and deciding to channel these emotions into something creative and productive transmutes energy, however dark or difficult into something pure, truthful and beautiful. It provides us the opportunity to share it communally with one another, exposing our vulnerabilities to realize we are not alone, but are one.
Memoirs are writings and photographs by AVM Hawkins that fuel her creative endeavors.
“ My vision of living a life of an artist is fueled by living in a state of seeing constant inspiration, with a preparedness to express that inspired thought or idea on paper, or in some physical form.
When I see this vision in my mind’s eye, I feel euphoric. I want to jump to my feet and find a journal, a fantastic pen, and live that scene in real time. Reenact being an “artist” in real life.
I am like a child again. I am my original self again. My mind open with wonder and imagination. My body pulsating and radiating pure joy.
I don’t question my desire. I don’t question my feelings. I don’t question my thoughts or my actions. I instantly exude and embody the energy of a creative person, not because I want to prove anything to anyone, nor requiring permission or validation from my peers, but only because it brings my heart joy.
This is what I seek everyday. This is inspiration.
’Memoirs’ is a blog where I seek inspiration and document my reflections as I live and create.”
With every interaction— every email, note, or post online, I get to design and curate a creative experience.
I get to share my love and joy for art with others.
And that is Everything.
I was reminded of how grateful I am for every moment I am able to create or take time to seek and enjoy inspiration in my day-to-day life.
Read MoreThis experience made me remember another thought I had the day before, while drinking my coffee—dripped coffee with a shot of espresso and brown sugar.
The thought was about my first time living in Spain, and how Spain wasn’t necessarily just a physical location on the planet, but an experience—a mentality—a mantra or philosophy that I desired to apply in all aspects of my day-to-day life.
If only, I could remember…
Read MoreWe has a great time.
However, on Ash Wednesday, I woke up with body aches, and a burning throat and ear lobes.
I went round for round, taking cough, cold, and flu medicine, Advil, Zyrtec, Soup and Hot Tea.
Slept all day Wednesday through Friday, waking up Saturday feeling worst than ever.
So, unfortunately, there was no blog post last week…and basically, none for this Friday, except a sweet explanation. :)
Read MoreWhen I read, I rarely read to complete a book.
I read because I enjoy the thoughts and ideas that the book stimulates.
It could take me years to finish reading a book, solely because I love the process of reading more than the accomplishment of reading the book.
I tend to underline favorited sentences, bracket beloved paragraphs, highlight lines for emphasis, and place hand-written post it notes filled inside the pages, for a joyful anticipated revisitation at a future date.
I can see this being a reoccurring blog post, taking a quote or a pondered perspective and document my thoughts as I dive deeper into the rabbit hole.
There are a million ways a book, a movie, or a conversation could inspire a new perspective or way of seeing that I previously never could have imagined.
Read MoreLast week, I was very proud to donate, Contemporary Teal, an original painting, to GiGi’s Playhouse Gala’s Silent Auction.
GiGi’s Playhouse is a Down syndrome organization with over 61 brick-and-mortar locations across the United States and Mexico.
Everyday GiGi’s Playhouse provides free, life-changing therapeutic, educational, and career training programs for over 30,000 individuals of all ages.
They empower families by maximizing opportunities for daily achievement and lasting acceptance.
I am very happy to donate art to assist with raising funds for this extraordinary organization.
Read MoreThis past week, I experienced that all too familiar feeling of discomfort in my body. I was overwhelmed by so many emotions: despair, sadness, hopelessness, frustration, grief, and uncertainty.
Life is hard in general, but sometimes being too glued to social media can really warp one’s sense of reality.
Luckily, I have developed a knowing, that when I feel like this, I must create.
Read MoreThe beauty of committing to this weekly, writing practice, is that it encourages me to prioritize reading, study and taking time to deep dive into something, or in this case, someone that deeply inspires me—Ghanaian figurative painter, Amoako Boafo.
Read MoreEvery time I pass it, I look at it, consciously and unconsciously.
I can see the work’s “path” from this perspective—the actual perspective of how one would live with the work.
I can see how the work will continue to evolve in my mind’s eye.
Read MoreAs an artist, I am often asked, “where do I find inspiration?”It's a huge question, that could be summed up easily as, “anything and everything.”Inspiration comes from everywhere. Inspiration changes from moment to moment, and from day to day. But, one of my pillars of inspiration, in art and in life, comes from this very special human being, and angel—Leroy "Buddy" Vignaud.
Read MoreThis year, I aim, to dive deeper into art, in and of itself, and also, of course into my own work as an artist.
I aim to share how I process ideas, my environment and influences, through as many means as possible—through written language, photography, videos, and in tangible works.
Read MoreThis blog, was meant to remind me to seek and always be open to finding inspiration wherever I am, and wherever I go.It has been a wonderful means for me to practice writing about my art and the things that inspire me.It has helped center me, on my why for creating—purely for the sake of creating without any attachment to the outcome.I am excited to continue this practice in 2026, and I am thankful for your readership.
Read MoreOne of my favorite memories during Christmas as a child, was seeing my mom rearrange the living room to fit the Christmas tree. We would play The Temptations Christmas Album on repeat as we helped her place the ornaments all throughout the tree.
I would love to wake up early in the morning, and lay on the couch, just to be near the beautifully lit Christmas tree, staring at the ornaments and playing with them when my mom wasn’t looking.
Read MoreEver since I was young, I always drew faces—particularly male profiles as subject matter.
They are completely free-styled, drawn from the subconscious without a knowing of how they will look when completed.
This year, I’ve been working a lot with acrylic paint markers, which allow me to draw directly onto the canvas.
This has triggered more muscle memory from how I doodled when I was an adolescent.
Read MoreIt’s been a long time since I’ve ordered something from CCS and I was pleasantly surprised to see the catalog pop up in my mailbox recently.
It brought me back down memory lane, reminding me of my first, earliest influences as an artist.
I loved the logos, the deck, t-shirt and hoodie designs. And the loved the fashion—the particular style of skaters.
My style of drawing is very similar to the images I admired in the magazine.
Read MorePursuing art, or any deeply desired dream or goal, indeed, requires faith—a belief that the goal is obtainable.
I realize now, I have faith that my goal is achievable; however I don’t always have faith throughout the process of achieving my goals.
I find my emotions rise and fall according to circumstances, opposed to remaining lockstep in faith that all things are working in my favor.
Read MoreThis is the process of alchemy.
Alchemy is the process artists set out to embark upon every time they step into the studio— to begin, continue, and / or finish a work of art.
Alchemy is also the process, every human being embarks upon, when they wake up in the morning, with a new day set forth before them.
We are all artists, and our greatest work is the life we create.
Read MoreAs a short, quick, post for this Friday, I wanted to share the final completed sculpture of Peacock Crossroads by Art Uniti led by Tami Moschioni.
It was such a honor and so much fun to be a part of this project.
Read MoreHouston has such a deep history of culture and music, that doesn’t always receive its proper due.
I think that’s because, Houston doesn’t brag—it just lives.
Houston walks the walk.
We take care of our neighbors; we appreciate the arts and each other.
Read MoreI pulled out a book I purchased about 12 to 15 years ago from a Half Priced Books “run” with my Dad (at The Rice Village location, but unfortunately isn’t there anymore).
This book is: “Graffiti World: Street Art from Five Continents” by Nicholas Gauz.
I purchased this book, before my law school days and way, way, way, before I had any idea of pursuing art seriously. This was a book I acquired purely for inspiration.
It’s so nice to return to this book, all these years later, and use it as a reference for a commission.
Read MoreThis past week I’ve begun a cool art commission, that will be a (small) part of Houston Blues Festival 2025. My art contribution is small, but extremely cool and I am very excited and honored to be a part of it. More details to come on my art contribution, but here is a sneak peak of what I’ve been working on. To learn more about the festival, visit: https://houstonbluesfest.com/bluesfest-2025.
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