Desert-inspired poet, artist Hawkins dies

Ed Koch and Mary Manning

Friday, Sept. 17, 1999 | 8:38 a.m.

Artist and poet Dorothy Hawkins loved the Southern Nevada desert -- the freedom and wide expanse of which were an inspiration to her paintings and poetry.

As an artist she painted in oil, acrylics, watercolors, charcoal and mixed media, capturing the desert, mountains and other subjects during a career that spanned seven decades.

"I don't want to be confined," Hawkins once said of her work. "I work with whatever I feel."

As a poet she published two books and enjoyed writing so much she left hundreds of unpublished poems and other writings.

Dorothy Frances Hawkins, a board member of the Las Vegas Art Museum at Lorenzi Park, whose local shows were appreciated by generations of Las Vegans, died Thursday at the Odyssey Harbor Hospice of complications from a stroke. She was 89.

At her request there will be no services. Instead, a memorial showing of her favorite works will be scheduled at a date and location yet to be determined.

"She was a treasure of the desert," said Charlene Cruze, president of the National League of American Pen Women's Las Vegas branch. Cruze said Hawkins also was influenced by Oriental art and calligraphy.

"Dorothy was an inspiration to writers and artists in Southern Nevada," National First Vice President of Pen Women Joanne Trahan said.

Hawkins was a longtime member of the Pen Women, a prestigious organization of women writers that was founded late in the 19th century.

"I would say the desert inspired my mother as both a painter and a poet, though she painted much more than landscapes," said longtime Las Vegas real estate developer Mitchell Hawkins.

"She did a whole set of paintings of the local mountains and desert, and some of her published poetry was inspired by her years in Boulder City."

Hawkins published two volumes of poetry, "Taste of Hunger" and "The Expression of Nature and Human Love."

Born Dorothy Schwarz on Aug. 1, 1910, in Westchester County, N.Y., she was one of four daughters of film cameraman Gary Schwarz and the former Florence Bayha.

Her father left the family after serving in World War I for work in Hollywood, and Dorothy was raised by her mother.

From Hawkins' childhood she was grounded in the fine arts. She spent hours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Theater and other museums and theaters in New York City.

As a teenager Hawkins was influenced by her teacher, Erik Gornik, the European artist who achieved fame in Paris, Vienna and Argentina.

Hawkins lived and traveled throughout Europe, especially Italy, Spain and France.

She later traveled the world, and some of her paintings today are in private collections in the Caribbean.

Prior to World War II, Hawkins put her art training to commercial use in design and marketing in the New York garment district, where she specialized in illustrations for woolen clothing.

However, the rest of her art career was not motivated by commercial gain but rather a desire to capture the spirit of her subject matter.

"Money did not interest my mother, although there were prices on her work at her shows," Mitchell Hawkins said. "She was more interested in gaining the satisfaction all artists desire, seeing people enjoy her work."

Dorothy married Air Force veteran Arthur Hawkins in 1946, and the couple moved to Boulder City in 1957, but left in 1965. They returned to Southern Nevada in 1970 and settled in Las Vegas, where he became a successful real estate broker. Arthur died in January 1995.

Dorothy was diagnosed with adult onset diabetes in the early 1970s but otherwise remained strong and healthy throughout her life until her recent stroke, her family said.

"Much intrigues me and chills me," Hawkins once said. "Expressing what I see and feel in nature, I have a sense of relief."

Still painting late into life, Hawkins had shows at several venues, including the Clark County Library several years ago.

In addition to her son, Hawkins is survived by a sister, Marion Torpie of Roseville, Calif. She was preceded in death by sisters Eda and Mildred.