A Flying Start to the New Year for Ceramicist Carol Sinclair

The new year is already shaping up to be an extraordinary one for the wonderfully talented ceramicist Carol Sinclair, who is celebrating not one, but two major awards recognising the depth, sensitivity and quiet power of her practice.

First, Carol has been selected by Visual Arts Scotland (VAS) as Maker of the Year 2026—a brand new award created by VAS in partnership with Joanne MacFadyen of Tea Green Events. Even more special, Carol is the very first recipient of this prestigious new accolade.

The selectors praised her work in glowing terms:

“The selectors were deeply impressed by the clarity, refinement and sensitivity of your ceramic practice, in particular the way your pieces explore connection, memory, place and surface with such quiet depth and material intelligence. The subtlety of your porcelain forms and the distinctive language of pattern and inlay present a practice that is both rigorous and poetic, contributing powerfully to the contemporary craft ecology in Scotland.”

A response that left Carol both honoured and slightly stunned.

“Wow! In truth I’m still a bit stunned,” she says. “We’re just starting to make plans, but I’m incredibly excited for all that lies ahead in the next year.”

Carol can now also share another long-held secret: she has been awarded the Craft Scotland Inches Carr Established Maker Award for 2025. After weeks of keeping it under wraps, the excitement is finally out in the open.

This significant award will support Carol over the next 12 months, giving her time and space to deepen her research into minerals and colourants, experiment away from the studio, learn new building techniques, and truly push the boundaries of her creative practice.

Carol states “I’m so grateful to the selection panel for supporting my application, and for the lovely conversation we had about my ideas and plans for the future.”

With two major awards, fresh opportunities for exploration, and a year of creative development ahead, 2025 and 2026 are set to be landmark years for Carol Sinclair. We can’t wait to see what emerges next from her studio.