Connie Deans-Harding

Connie is the founder of Maker & Mind, and a maker long before she called herself an artist.
Thread, textile and fibre have run through her whole life. Connie’s childhood was spent at craft fairs, classes, guild events, galleries and museums, with her mother’s knitting needles playing the soundtrack to those early adventures. Her curiosity and hunger for learning mean she can confidently turn her hand to a multitude of textile crafts including Kumihimo braiding, spinning, embroidery and quilting.

Intrigued by texture and potential, Connie interrogates material properties alongside colour and form. Her fascination with thread and its endless potential imbues her mixed media practice with a common theme. In recent works, she has been interpreting the microstructures of geological materials and building abstract patterns that celebrate the remarkable details found in the natural environment. From crystalline shapes stitched together from organza embedded in bioplastic, to a cape adorned with foraged feathers, Connie will work joyfully with any material that crosses her path.

Though Connie lives with depression and late-diagnosed ADHD; textile craft and accessing creativity has been her cornerstone. While Connie’s practice is as broad and eclectic as the materials she gathers, she never strays from the core belief that awe surrounds us, art connects us and everyone deserves access to the benefits of making.
She opened Maker & Mind in 2026 to share the joy of mindful making with others: a space to slow down, be present, and make something good.