Maker of the Year 2026: Meg Hübert Ceramics

Meg Hübert likes to play.

A colourful, lighthearted sense of style is echoed in her work: hand-painted clay tiles with quirky illustrations; pendant lights where the clay seems to drip from their surface; the shape-shifting Eclipse sconce, itself a winner of our recent Western Living Design 25 awards. The Eclipse’s one-of-a-kind design became so popular that it’s now being made in several patterns and colourways—pink and cream with electrical flecks of copper, checkers or stripes, or combinations of ocean blue, seafoam green and textured mustard yellow.

“It’s sometimes a bit of a surprise what your result ends up being,” Hübert says of the design, which has been reimagined many times. “That’s kind of the fun of it. It’s a little bit like playing when you’re a kid; it’s like, oh, I’m playing this way, and now, oh, now it’s all of a sudden going in this direction.”

Though it might be what she’s best known for, her focus on ceramic lighting came as a happy accident.

“When I went to school for fine art, I was focusing more on printmaking, painting and drawing,” she explains. “In my last semester at Emily Carr, I decided to take a pottery class, because I [thought], I’m not going to have access to these studios anymore, and I really should utilize the space. I ended up really enjoying ceramics because of that process.”

It wasn’t in hopes of raising her grade-point average. It was just to play.

After graduating, she took an apprenticeship with a ceramic artist, then came a lighting contract with Vancouver-based design studio Bocci.

“I realized: this is an art form I can see building into a career,” she says. “I really was drawn to the idea of these functional sculptures. You could actually create really unusual pieces that were sculptural, but that could still have this purpose of functional lighting and design in your home.”

Functional but playful, too, are her hand-painted kitchen tiles, which serve as a backsplash to her stove at home. The square tiles are a riot of colour and pattern—a first-time canvas where she and her partner felt free to “just do what we would want to do” with their own space.

The many-coloured tiles have now become something of a legend for those who’ve been to Hübert’s home; today, her friends urge her to begin selling tile sets so people can scatter them through their own homes.

“I know that our tile is kind of a lot,” she admits. “People might be like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s just so crazy, so many colours and overwhelming,’ but… I like things that are really bright and colourful, unique and energetic.”

Our judges, too, see Hübert’s playful spirit throughout her work.

Judge Caroline Boquist, co-founder of Walrus, raves about “the colour, the translucency, the patterns, the negative space, the textures and layering” in Hübert’s commissioned pendant lighting cluster. “Through Meg’s work, you can see the breadth of her understanding of both the restrictions and the versatility of her chosen medium,” she writes.

Concrete jewellery and object designer Karen Konzuk similarly lauds Hübert’s Eclipse sconce: “The interplay of the texture, colours and luminosity was especially appealing,” writes the judging panel member.

Whether it’s her now-famed sconce, her pendant clusters, her tiles or her one-off experiments, Hübert’s work remains functional and, still, deeply fun—helping create spaces that feel joyfully lived-in.

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Meg Hübert on Design

What was your first design project?

A series of form-fitting bowls for a design series titled “17” by Bocci. It was a large walnut table (and later marble tables), for which I made thin porcelain bowls inset into concave pools cut out of the surface of the table. Through this project I learned that problem solving is a major element of design: I used plaster to make moulds of the pools and had to calculate the clay shrinkage and adjust for that.

Who’s a Western Canadian designer whose work you admire?

Maria Struk—a glass blower. As you might notice, I am drawn to bright colours and playful design, and I’ve always been fascinated by glass blowing. Her work sucks me in with its shiny surfaces and candy colours. My absolute favourites are her larger vases (that seem great for drinking glasses, too) and her goblets that combine three different coloured segments with a sphere as the goblet stem.

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Meg’s Local Favourites

For Coffee

Platform 7 is a cool little patio with mature trees and flowers at Hastings at Nanaimo in Vancouver. It’s a surprise to find this beautiful little spot in the back alley of a busy street. It reminds me of the coffee bar I worked at in the late ’90s in Kelowna. It’s big and has wood floors, a lot of booth seating and a retro aesthetic.

For Design Shopping

I always like snooping around Attic Treasures on Commercial Drive. They have a thoughtful selection of vintage furniture, lighting and knickknacks. My husband Steve got me a great 1989 Swatch for my birthday one year and I wear it every day. You should also pop into Vancouver Special on Main Street for inspiration as well: their beautiful objects will get you excited about colour and mid-century modern and art deco forms, and you will see pieces by a lot of talented local and international designers.

For Shopping Local

My number-one favourite local business has to be Lucky’s Books and Comics—a beacon for independent artists. Lucky’s has a small gallery where they display a new show of local art every month. They also have the best zines and collection of independent, weird and wonderful graphic books and novels. Lucky’s has been a Vancouver original for over 30 years.

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Read More:

• Explore the Western Living Designers of the Year
• WL Design 25 Winners 2026: Meg Hübert’s Eclipse Sconce
• Meg Hübert’s Eclipse Sconce Wins the 2026 WL Design 25 People’s Choice
• Meet the 2026 Western Living Maker Judges
• Meet the 2026 Western Living Designers of the Year Finalists
• Meet the 2026 Western Living Design Icons
• Inside Meg and Steve Hübert’s Colour-Packed Vancouver Kitchen