How to replace the avatar image by a div in the Ionic List-Item Directive?

The ionic framework offers a directive to create lists with list items and avatars on the left using the following code:

<div class="list">
 <a class="item item-avatar" href="#">
      <img src="venkman.jpg">
      <h2>Venkman</h2>
      <p>Back off, man. I'm a scientist.</p>
    </a>
</div>

However, the avators need to be an image (looks like it searches for images). How can we replace this image by a custom div or just text?