[1] She attended St Cuthbert's College in Auckland from 1915 until 1924, when family financial difficulty forced Acres to get a job writing show cards for shops.

[2]: 11  Encouraged by her father who recognised her talent for drawing, Avis attended night classes to learn pen and ink sketching at the Druleigh School of Art on Queen Street.

[1] Acres is best known for her comic strip about two pōhutukawa fairies, Hutu and Kawa, which was published weekly on the children's page of the New Zealand Herald from September 1950 to July 1960, and as three books by A.H. & A.W.

[1] Acres was inspired to create Hutu and Kawa after reading The Gum Nut Babies by Australian author and illustrator May Gibbs and believing she could have success with a local equivalent.

The books communicated Avis' own strong conservation ethos and understanding of ecological issues, such as the impact of introduced pests on the native environment.