B. Jane Doub
President & CEO of Piedmont Craftsmen, Winston-Salem, NC
Education: Bachelor of Creative Arts, UNC Charlotte (1980)
Hometown: Tobaccoville, NC
Fiber artist B. Jane Doub is President & CEO of Piedmont Craftsmen, a non-profit fine craft guild in Winston-Salem that represents more than 300 artists from across the United States. The mission of Piedmont Craftsmen is “to champion the work of our artists and create connections and education programs for artists, collectors and the community,” Doub says. She also co-owned Fiber Company, a shop and studio, with other fiber artists in the Arts District in downtown Winston-Salem for 32 years, and from 1982 until 2004 she was the Fiber Department Coordinator for Sawtooth School for Visual Art.
Doub has dedicated her life to pursuing her passion for creating, and this love of art started when she was young. Doub said that she always seemed to be working with her hands – “creating objects with materials around the house.”
“My parents and grandparents were farmers. They used the materials they had to make clothes, piece a quilt top, weave a chair seat, or build a table. It was part of my family to work with your hands and create something useful. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t want to create art.”
Her time at UNC Charlotte is what introduced her to and gave her the skills in the fiber arts. “I had my first weaving class at UNC Charlotte and everything clicked. I wanted to make a cloth that was unique with texture and color.”
She also credits her education in the department of Art & Art History for furthering her ability to problem solve and allowing many introductions to professional artists. “The wealth of knowledge was incredible from the professors and from other visiting artists.”
Her biggest project since she graduated was a result of being honored as Winston-Salem’s “Artist of the Year” in 2006. “The show required me to push past my regular production of handwoven textiles and create more one-of-kind fiber wall pieces,” she says. “The wall pieces combined hand woven bands with hand painted canvas strips. Since then, I have worked with one of my studio partners, Carolyn Glazener, to create larger pieces for universities and corporate offices.”
Doub has several special commissioned wall pieces that are in the collections of Duke University’s School of Nursing in Durham, NC; Wake Forest University’s School of Business, Winston-Salem, NC; Wake Forest Atrium Health, Winston-Salem; Kernodle Clinic in Elon, NC; and at the State Employees Credit Union House in Winston-Salem.
She also creates handwoven coats, jackets, and scarves for hundreds of customers and sells her work through galleries and art shows across the United States. Notable venues include Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C.; American Craft Shows in Baltimore, Atlanta, and Charlotte; Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, NC; Danforth Museum Craft Show, MA; Long’s Park Festival of the Arts, PA; Paradise City Arts & Craft Show, MA; Long’s Park Festival of the Arts, PA; and Piedmont Craftsmen, NC.
Her advice for current students: “The studio practice and exploration are how one learns, especially from their mistakes. Mistakes are just as important as successes in my opinion. I was able to gain information about a variety of art techniques and materials while in the program. UNC Charlotte is where I started a life-long search for knowledge in the fiber arts and other fine crafts. Never stop learning!”