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Currently based in her hometown of Houston, Bevin Bering Dubrowski has scored some major international art cred. She interned at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, earned degrees in art history, studio art, and business from Emory University, and studied photography in France, Spain, and Mexico. In addition, Dubrowski serves as an editor of Spot, the Houston Center for Photography’s award-winning journal. This week, she discusses the joys of Paris, ballet flats, and family time with domino.
The table is crafted of wood from a 17th-century monk’s house in central Mexico, where Dubrowski’s husband lived for nearly a decade.
1. How would you describe your personal style?
Classic, interrupted. I love the classics—clean lines, tidy forms—yet I never wear anything that resembles an “outfit.” I don’t think I’ve ever worn the exact same thing twice. I love to mix in something that’s handmade, vintage, and unexpected.
An antique cedar armoire stands in a corner of the living room.
2. What’s your most prized possession?
My photographs—they’re representations of my personal history, as well as the histories of the people I love. If the house were on fire, I’d grab the baby, the dog, and the hubby, and if I had a moment more, I would try to grab some photographs.
3. What’s your favorite travel destination?
Oh, there are so many! I love Paris, and I adore my time in New York. Many of my friends from college and work are there, and I love the constant stream of art, news, and fashion that you absorb simply by stepping out onto the street. And anyplace near a body of water also makes me incredibly happy.
4. Where do you feel most inspired?
Most of my “aha” moments come to me while on a walk or in the shower. Water and movement tend to shed away a lot of the clutter.
5. If you had to wear one outfit for therest of your life, what would it be?
Black skinny pants, ballet flats, and a crisp white shirt. That may sound boring, but it can take you just about anywhere!
6. On what items do you scrimp?On what do you splurge?
Scrimp: Purchasing a great piece of art used to be a major investment, but that’s not necessarily the case anymore. Today, many artists make open-edition prints for nonprofit organizations, allowing me to own many pieces by artists I admire without the big-ticket prices. Splurge: I spend time and money on my friends and family. If you scrimp on that, everything else falls apart.
Dubrowski poses beside a reinterpretation by Mexico City artist Luis Granda of Domenico Ghirlandaio’s Portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni.
7. What makes a home beautiful?
Light and a sense of humor.
8. What’s the best piece of adviceyou’ve ever received?
Don’t take anything personally. Anne Tucker, the great curator of photographs at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, told me that at just the right moment in my life. And it changed everything.
9. What artists, past or present,do you most admire?
I admire any artist who can continue to grow and to channel that growth into his or her work. Shelley Calton and Julie Blackmon are two photographers for whom I have tremendous respect. Both have exhibited at the Houston Center for Photography, and my husband and I love living with their work in our home.
A set of Sharon Montrose prints adds playful charm to the nursery.
10. What are the characteristicsof a great photograph?
Any photograph that you’ll remember tomorrow, and the next day, and years later. A great photograph stays with you because it struck you in the heart or the head.