Instructors
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Erika Harding (Founder)
GLASS, MOSAIC
Erika first learned how to create mosaics more than 10 years ago at Ghost Ranch with Kathy Thaden. She was immediately drawn to both the meditative rhythm of the work and the joy of creating in community. Over time, she gravitated toward stained glass, specializing in glass-on-glass mosaic pieces, tables, and sculptural objects. Her work often incorporates collected beads, stones, fused glass, and other found elements.
One of her favorite aspects of mosaic art is the constant learning it invites—whether from peers, books, instructors, or her own students. She continues to expand her practice by exploring glass fusing and creating new components for her mosaic designs.
She continues to create connections with the local community through mosaics and other art-centered projects.
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Alison Robbenhaar
PAINTING, MULTIMEDIA
Alison Robbenhaar is a colorist and landscape oil painter who captures the distinctive beauty of New Mexico. A longtime plein air artist, she leads painting excursions throughout Taos and across the state, sharing her love of painting on location. Her recent work has been inspired by shifts in shapes and colors as nature moves between the seasons.
A New Mexico resident since 2004, she considers it the perfect place to call home. Alison is talented in more ways than one and teaches several classes from painting, collages, and fiber arts.
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Catalina Salinas
EMBOSSED METAL/RIBBON ORNAMENTS, RECYCLED PAPER ART
Born in La Paz, Bolivia, the high mountains, vibrant textiles, and indigenous cultures of her childhood shaped her lifelong love of color and artistic expression. Her curiosity for culture and form eventually led her to pursue a master’s degree in Architecture, further refining her creative vision and reach.
Now in in New Mexico, she continues to draw inspiration from its beautiful sunsets and landscapes. Her work explores shifting color gradations and textured patterns that create movement, subtle optical illusions, and compositions that change with orientation.
She often paints squares and rectangles reminiscent of woven textiles—abstract forms; Up close they dissolve into pattern, and from a distance, they come together to tell a story.
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Willi Haye
GLASS CASTING
Willi’s love of glass began at 17 with a small piece of Murano glass that sparked a lifelong fascination with light and color. Raised in the Netherlands among abstract artists, she later pursued a long career in nursing before rediscovering her creative path through kiln-cast glass in 2007.
Her dedication led her to study at Pilchuck Glass School and later with Czech Glass Maestro Petr Stacho. Willi has exhibited widely, including her solo show Luminous Reflections, and her work is represented by galleries in Santa Fe and St. Petersburg, Florida.
As both artist and instructor, she shares her passion for cast glass, encouraging others to explore the unique possibilities of the medium.
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Linda Guernsey
GLASS
Linda is a local glass icon. She owns Hot Flash Glass, where she and her husband shared their passion for the glass community. Here at The Groove, she teaches stained glass, fusing, and other glass techniques.
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Tina Wolverton
MIXED MEDIA
Tina is a mixed media artist and licensed therapist. She has a Masters in Art Therapy and Counseling from Southwestern College. She has created art throughout her life. Artwork to her is a deep expression of her personal journey and a connection to her soul.
She has experience with a variety of media such as encaustic, watercolor, collage, paper making, mono-prints and sewing. She enjoys experimenting and learning new techniques.
Her art is vulnerable and raw. It explores such topics as grief, climate change, motherhood and mental disorders.
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Mitch Berg
MIXED MEDIA, GLASS
Mitch is a self-taught artist and the director of Fuego. He uses mixed media, welding, and glass techniques to create distinct sculptures with visual storytelling.
Since 1996, he has combined fused and lampwork glass with welded scrap metal, altered wood, and found objects to create one-of-a-kind pieces infused with humor and humanity. His unique, award-winning work has been featured in art shows nationwide, earning a devoted collector following.
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Delfie Martinez
JEWELRY, FUSED GLASS
Delfie's fascination with glass began while taking a fused glass class for her jewelry business, but she soon moved beyond small cabochons to create larger, more ambitious pieces. She works with frit, rods, stringers, and sheet glass to craft kiln-formed art that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional. Inspired by the colors, textures, and forms of the natural world, she strives to express the beauty of her surroundings into glass.
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Dina Afek
MOSAIC, UPCYCLED MIXED MEDIA
After retiring from her attorney position in 2020, Dina turned a longtime habit of collecting Nespresso coffee capsules into a new artistic pursuit. What started as an attempt to recycle, lead her to develop her own “coffee art mosaic” technique. Dina--fascinated by their iridescence and color--began using discarded or found materials and recycled substrates to create meaningful, upcycled works.
As self-taught artist, she has since explored mosaic techniques online and in classes, guided by mentors Jill Gatwood and Erika Harding. Her favorite part of the process is transforming objects and ideas into pieces that hold personal significance for the people who receive them.
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Ben Harrison
MIXED MEDIA
Primarily a collage and mixed-media artist, Ben draws inspiration from both life and imagination, often incorporating prized comic books from his childhood collection. Exploring themes like “the hero’s journey,” he reinterprets ancient gods and myths through modern icons and imagery, creating new heroes for contemporary storytelling.
Based in his downtown Albuquerque studio at 5th and Central, he has also completed several murals in the surrounding area.
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Leah Mitchell
MOSAIC
Leah draws inspiration from the vibrant beauty of New Mexico—sunsets, desert flowers, chile ristras, and hot air balloons over the Rio Grande. She is equally captivated by the versatility of mosaic art, which can serve as architectural accents, sculptures, wall art, or functional objects. Working with glass, ceramic tiles, broken dishes, and found materials, Leah creates distinctive mosaics that have been exhibited at the Sandia Heights Artists Studio Tour, the Placitas Library Mosaic Artists Exhibition “Wild,” and The Gallery ABQ.
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Richard Barnes
PRINTMAKING
Richard is a UNM graduate and Tamarind Institute trained artist based in Albuquerque.
*More information to be added soon.
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Carrie Botto
JEWELRY, MULTIMEDIA
Carrie is NM True Certified local artist. She enjoys creating pieces that uses rock wrapping techniques and makes intricate beaded jewelry.
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Carol Lutz
FUSED GLASS
Working primarily in fused glass, Carol draws inspiration from New Mexico’s skies, shifting landscapes, and culture. Her work blends geometric forms with bold color, creating both functional and decorative pieces she describes as “jewelry for the home.”
With more than 20 years of experience teaching art to children, she brings a deep appreciation for curiosity, and experimentation to her practice. Her passion for art—and for keeping the creative community thriving—continues to shape her life and work.
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Lavae Aldrich
KILNFORM GLASS
After a 30 year career in architecture, Lavae discovered her passion for fused glass in Costa Rica. Mostly self-taught, she is inspired by the New Mexico's sky, landscape, and multicultural customs.
Lavae is inspired by the vast technical possibilies of working with glass. She continually experiments with traditional tools, new materials, and processes. Her creative direction often emerges from the medium itself, allowing the properties of glass to guide her work.
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Beca Kulinovich
MOSAIC
After a 20-year career, Beca retired to Albuquerque in 2018, where she finally had the time and space to explore her creative side. She was quickly drawn to the art of mosaics, discovering a passion for designing pieces that bring color and texture to outdoor spaces. Many of her works are created specifically to enhance gardens and yards, adding a touch of art to the natural landscape.
Want to Become an Instructor?
We’re always on the lookout for passionate instructors and unique classes!
