Hugh Goring

This week we caught up with Hugh Goring from Frames Gallery. Frames has been going strong for over 36 years and Hugh has been there every step of the way - now that's what you call a lifelong passion!

 

Hugh works Monday-Friday 9.00-5.30 (ish) and is involved with exhibitions, framing, advertising and making hand leafed-frames, so basically every part of the business and more!

 

He's currently super busy with ArTay, part of the Perth Festival of The Arts. ArTay is free to enjoy and features the work of over 80 artists and makers from across Scotland, with around 300 different works on show at this years event that will be running from the 17th to the 20th May - don't miss it!

 

 

Frames Gallery is really two businesses, the gallery and the framing so it always feels a bit like juggling the two parts.

The first thing is to make sure that Lucy, my assistant of 25 years, knows what she's doing for that day and has everything she needs to get on with it. If not, then I will need to order materials etc. Then it's checking emails and replying to any that need it. Having been in business for so long, I have seen so many changes regarding computers and technology it's quite astonishing. My first computer had a hard disk that was 40mb!

 

Then it's onto looking at the gallery side of things. We run several exhibitions throughout the year and each needs the artists to be checked with, advertising designed, invitations and catalogues designed and cataloging for each show. 

 

Once the admin is taken care of I will go down to my separate workshop where I make hand-leafed frames. This is the specialised part of our business that not many framers do and I particularly enjoy using the skills acquired over many years. 

 

 

 

The weekend should start on Friday evening but it has a habit of over-running. Maybe it's part of being self-employed. Once everything is taken care of, then I can feel the weekend is starting. 

 

 

I love movies! So a good bottle of red and a film I'm really looking forward to watching makes for a great night in. Ideally one that both my wife, Julie, and I want to watch, but we have different tastes in films and it can be difficult to find one that suits us both but when we do it's perfect. 

 

 

Escaping for the day is a wonderful thing and probably doesn't happen enough for us! A day in Edinburgh looking at galleries and bookshops and a nice lunch sounds quite simple but is ideal for me. 

 

 

We once had a marvellous weekend staying in a great hotel in Ballater,  being a bit pampered as well as exploring the wonderful surrounding landscape. We are so lucky in Scotland having such dramatic landscapes within small distances. 

 

 

Having been in business for over 36 years it's hard to pick one single day but I do still get a huge kick from selling art. Occasionally someone will come into the gallery and love what we have on show and out of the blue, buy something. I then get the opportunity to ring the artist with the good news. Something I love to do. 

 

 

I work in a hugely disorganised way! Something I've spent my life trying to change but with no success. So absolutely no rituals except for a coffee first thing in the morning. 

 

 

An espresso, I'm a bit of a coffee addict, a warm croissant with honey or marmalade. If I'm in a hotel or a B&B, the full monty of course. 

 

 

As I get older I realise more and more how much there is still to learn. Not just about my job, but about life and the world out there.