The Man Behind arTay
Hugh Goring is the owner of Frames Art Gallery and Framing service in Perth city centre. Frames has been going strong for nearly 40 years and Hugh has been there every step of the way - now that's what you call a lifelong passion!
Hugh is involved with exhibitions, framing, advertising and making hand leafed-frames, so basically every part of the business and more!
He is also the creative mastermind behind one of Perth Festival of the Arts most popular events - arTay. 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.
The aim of arTay is to make contemporary Scottish art as accessible as possible to the public at large. The tent will be open each evening prior to Perth Festival of the Arts events being held in Perth Concert Hall, it's the perfect excuse to come along earlier and have a look before the concerts begin! This is a unique event in Scotland and, as such, should not be missed.
Our friends at the local online magazine Small City Big Personality, caught up with Hugh to find out more on how he spends his busy workdays and weekends.
1. What does a typical day at work look like for you?
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.
2. What signals the start of your weekend / days off?
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.
3. What makes for a perfect night in?
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.
4. What makes for a memorable day or night out?
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.
5. Tell us about the weekend you’d love to live again?
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. 
4. And now your best ever day at work?
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.
7. Any workday or weekend rituals?
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.
8. What’s in the perfect day off breakfast?
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.
9. Any words of wisdom for us?
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.
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Visit arTay at Horsecross Plaza in Perth City Centre as part of Perth Festival of the Arts from Thursday 16th Sunday 19th May 2019 >