Meet Finn “aves” Willman

Today we’re excited to be connecting with Finn “aves” Willman again. If you haven’t already, we suggest you check out our prior conversation with them here.

Finn “aves”, always such a pleasure connecting with you and thank you for sharing your stories, insights and inspiring messages with our community. We’re looking forward to getting the download and what you have been up to since our last interview, but first can you briefly introduce yourself to folks who might have missed the prior conversation.
Hello there! My name is Aves, and I make art! Specifically, I make and teach art that’s all about respecting the value of your own story. When people ask when I started being an artist my mom’s favorite response is always “they never stopped”. As children we’ve all got a creator inside us and a large part of my career is spent trying to honor those baby artists some of us have been forced to abandon in childhood. I instruct the general public at Painting with a Twist East in Colorado Springs (come and visit!) as well as recently having had the honor of the becoming the Secretary of the Pikes Peak Arts Council. I’m very excited to continue my work with my peers, especially my family in the local queer community!

Great, so let’s jump into an update on what you have been up to since we last spoke. What can you share with us?
Last time I spoke to Shoutout I was taking steps to hang in my first Denver Gallery, (didn’t sell a thing, haha). It’s felt like ages since then, as 2025 begins I’m drafting plans for paintings that will hang in City Hall and I’m doing more things than I ever thought I was capable of doing at once. My first tarot deck is going to hit shelves in February in the culmination of a years long illustration project, I’m helping organize a meetup for local creatives called 3rd Shift Grind as the secretary of the Pikes Peak Arts Council and having a lovely time hanging with my painters at the ‘Twist. It’s amazing and I’m very lucky to have been able to keep creating for so many years as well as having been given the gift of trust as an instructor to the public. I didn’t think this was possible when I was a kid, so younger me would be very very happy to see me now! I’m excited to put more of my work forward to the public and I hope you, dear reader, will enjoy seeing what I have in store!

Alright, so let’s do something a bit more fast-paced and lighthearted. We call this our lightning round and we’ll ask you a few quick questions.

Favorite Movie: Mirrormask

Favorite Book: The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Blue Bear by Walter Moers

Favorite TV Show: Arcane

Favorite Band or Artist: PVRIS

Sweet or Savory: Savory!

Mountains or Beach: Both at once is objectively the best option, Mountains if I had to pick.

Favorite Sport (to watch): UFC

Favorite Sport (to play): E-sports, haha

Did you play sports growing up (if so which ones): I played a little basketball, I also did martial arts!

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up: I wanted to be a Biologist, a writer, and a pop star! Sounds tiring haha

French Fries or Onion Rings: French Fries!

Chuck Rhodes or Bobby Axelrod: Chuck, Rhoades? I suppose…(based on ten seconds on the Wiki)

Favorite Cartoon growing up: Cyberchase

Favorite Childhood movie: The Last Unicorn

Favorite Breakfast Food: Frosted Flakes

What are you most excited about in the coming year?
This year has much in store for me in the best way, top of that list for me has to be my tarot deck. It’s a project I’ve been working on for years now and to be totally honest, dragging my feet on. There’s always such a scary precipice waiting for me one the edge of releasing a big project and the same kinds of well-trodden anxieties eager to stop me in my tracks; what if, what if, what if, etc. As I grow farther in my career these feelings have become easier and easier to reasonably quell, and I’m so thrilled to finally put years of my personal effort out into the light. I hope that people who pick up the False Tarot find as much clarity in using it as I have in making it. Look for it on metaphysical store shelves soon!

Website: https://www.aofaves.com/about

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/a_of_aves/

Image Credits
Painting With a Twist