Artist Judith Gould, MEd’93, feels there is something special about the doors of Queen’s University. “It’s like an invitation to walk in and say ‘welcome.’ People love them,” says Judith.
Judith has produced a Doors of Queen’s University poster featuring 16 of her watercolour paintings of the most popular doorways at Queen’s.
Which doors made the cut? One of Judith’s criteria was the door has to be architecturally appealing.
“If I like it, I will do a better job painting it so I picked ones that were interesting. The second thing I considered is what are the most iconic doors of Queen’s? I thought Summerhill, John Deutsch University Centre. I included the book store (Clark Hall) because that is where the engineers hang out,” says Judith.
Also making the list are Theological Hall, the Grad Club, Richardson Hall, Grant Hall, and Ban Righ Hall.
Making the poster was a time consuming process for Judith. Each painting on the poster is four by three inches but the original art work is 8 by 10 inches. It took Judith 10 hours to create each one. And originally there were 12 doors but the poster layout worked better with 16, so Judith decided to add four more.
Judith’s love of art goes back to her university days. She received a degree in visual arts from York University in 1973. She sold watercolours of Victorian buildings in Toronto to help pay for her education, and was commissioned to do paintings of the home and office of media expert Marshall McLuhan. She spent a few years as a printmaker but had to get a “real job” in order to pay the bills.
When she retired five years ago from Kingston General Hospital (KGH), she saw an opportunity to get back into doing something she loved.
Judith now spends her timing painting and running art workshops. She volunteers once a week at KGH running an art class in the mental health unit. Art is used to get people to communicate and express emotions differently.
“It’s been one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I had no idea how powerful art can be. When you sit there and people tell you, ‘This is the best thing I’ve done since I’ve come to KGH’ or they ask if you can come every day instead of every week.”
There are many “Doors of ….” posters, the most famous one being the Doors of Dublin. Several years ago there was a Doors of Queen’s poster made by the former Dean of Arts and Science Bob Silverman and featured 20 photographs.
Judith’s Doors of Queen’s University poster is available at the Campus Bookstore and Frameworks in downtown Kingston.
