Clare Williams

 Clare is the designer behind Shawbrae knitwear which she started up in 2015 having moved back home to Dumfries and Galloway, after losing her job in the textile industry. Clare has since set up a studio in the Scottish Borders town of Hawick.

"When I first started my business I had no idea of the journey ahead but help came from Business gateway, the princes trust, the CX/Magnox project (which was related to helping young people start new businesses after Chapelcross Nuclear power plant closed) and also Upland."

Clare has been selected by Upland twice: once as an emerging artist in 2016 and once through my own merit, in 2019."

Clare's designs are all based around medieval ecclesiastical architecture. "I take details from these amazing and majestic old buildings that can be overlooked in passing, and bring them to the forefront where everyone can see them. My designs are geometric and have a symmetry to them which is also something that is very common in these buildings."

 Using domestic knitting machines, Clare transfers her designs from paper into knitted textiles using a variety of different types of yarn to create a range of products that are luxurious and soft to the touch.