About Laura Robbins

A Poem

Sometimes I see that life is a mosaic. The steppingstones, the bricks we build with, the objects we surround ourselves with. The leaves of the branch, the trees. The petals of the sunflower, the pattern of seeds. The cellular structures, the molecules, the stars. Our emotions, the thoughts that occupy our minds.

The placement of pieces clarifies my mind. The choices bring me into the flow of the continuum. I find a kind of elation in the spontaneity of creativity. Some paint, some write, some sing, some see into the science of things: of space and matter. I have ideas, cut glass, form clay; am thankful for all those who have prepared the materials I use.

Thankful to the earth that holds me. Thankful for not being separate. Thankful for being in creativity.

I remember being a child and my father pointing out artwork that was “relief” sculpture. Textured surfaces have inspired me since childhood and I’ve been on the path of choosing to be an artist since I was eight years old.

During my twenties, I was primarily a printmaker, making “relief” color etching plates, deeply carved with acid. As an art teacher, I encouraged my students to explore and solve problems using many mediums. It was as a teacher that I gained real knowledge about mosaic technique. Since becoming a professional mosaic artist over twenty years ago, I appreciate that the words muse and mosaic come from the same root meaning!

My family and community give meaning to my life. I also love being solitary in my studio. In the quiet, my work helps me to gently connect to being truly present and creative. I enjoy exploring the endless ideas that arise as I play with material possibilities and limits. I am always open to surprises and happy to find the unexpected leading the way. Joy, as well as detailed work is inherent to the mosaic process.

Whether abstract or fanciful, dreamlike or representational, all of my images are visual metaphors. Many of my commissioned mosaic installations are fanciful natural scenes of landscape and animals. But I am constantly inspired to create non-literal designs as well.

Most of my mosaics are weather proof. I primarily work with glass (cutting, fusing, breaking, casting) and ceramics (slab and sculptural). Currently, I am looking forward to having more time to experiment with glass casting which enables a simplicity to my relief and sculptural forms.

My mosaic work can be seen at the Albuquerque Zoo as well as the Albuquerque Botanic Garden’s Dragonfly Sanctuary. If you travel to Oklahoma, you can view a large wall commissioned by the Norman Oklahoma Arts Council at Lions Park. My work can also be seen locally at four Range Cafes, Rust Medical Center Chapel and other businesses, schools, developments and private homes in New Mexico. I co-directed the local, seventy foot long Placitas Community Mosaic mural, Protect Our Wildlife Corridors and am a founding member of Mosaic New Mexico, a collaborative of mosaic artists. I am a founding member of Wild Hearts Gallery. My mosaic work has been included in publications and articles.

My art gently connects, appreciates, and interacts with the miracles of every moment. Whether abstract or fanciful, dreamlike or representational, my images are visual metaphors. When exploring and playing with material possibilities and limits, surprises and the unexpected lead the way.

I primarily work with glass (cutting, fusing, breaking, casting) and ceramics (slab and sculptural). Metals, including bronze casting, wood, fossils and stones find their ways in. Texture and relief surfaces spark me as do chemical reactions in glass.

I have permanent mosaic installations at the Albuquerque Zoo as well as the Botanic Garden’s Dragonfly Sanctuary and was commissioned by the Norman Oklahoma Arts Council to create a mosaic at their Lions Park. My work can also be seen locally at The Range Cafes, Rust Medical Center Chapel and other businesses, schools, developments and private homes in New Mexico. It has been included in publications and articles. I am a founding member of Mosaic New Mexico and part of Wild Hearts Gallery – both collaborative ventures.

Mosaic is an excellent medium for community involvement, and I co-directed the seventy-foot-long Placitas Community Mosaic mural, Protect Our Wildlife Corridors.  I received a BFA from Carnegie-Mellon University, where I primarily studied printmaking. A teacher for twenty years, I helped to found Bosque Preparatory School in Albuquerque and began their art program. I became a full-time professional mosaic artist in 2003.

Joy, as well as detailed work, is inherent to my mosaic process!

Laura received a BFA Major in Printmaking from  Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa. and received the 1974 CMU Printmaking Award. In 1976 she received the NM Arts and Crafts Fair Purchase Award for an etching which was displayed in a 2009 retrospective at the Albuquerque Museum.

Later she received her masters in Education with a  Specialty in Environmental Education from Queens College, N.Y. and graduated with Honors.

A Resident of New Mexico since 1975 (except for when studying for her MA in New York) Laura was a teacher from 1985-2003 and founding art teacher of Bosque School, Albuquerque. Her early mosaic experimentation was with many hundreds of student mosaics. Some of the 2002 Student Display of Mosaic Fish at the Outdoor Courtyard of Albuquerque Aquarium and Botanic Gardens Education Center can still be seen!

In 2004 Laura became a full time mosaic artist.

  • 2026  Curator of Mosaic New Mexico group show, Placitas Artist Series, Placitas Presbyterian Church
  • 2025  Curator Wild. Group Mosaic Show Placitas Library
  • 2025 Groove Art Space Luminous Group glass show
  • 2018 ~2026   Wild Hearts Gallery – founding member of a collaborative gallery of 14 artists, Placitas, New Mexico
  • 2025 Featured Artist Healing Dreams October
  • 2023 Featured Artist      Toward Water         September 
  • 2021 Featured Artist      With The Sky           June
  • 2019 Featured Artist      A Sense of Place     October
  • 2018 Featured Artist     Scenes From the Ground    September
  • 2023 Fusion Gallery: Piece Offerings Group Show
  • 2020 Tortuga Gallery Many Voices Mosaic New Mexico   Group show
  • 2019 Albuquerque Open Space. Mosaic New Mexico Group Show Passages
  • 2016  Organizer of Water A MosaicNew Mexico group show. New Grounds, Abq.
  • 2016 Matrix Fine Art  New Group Show
  • 2015  Placitas Artist Series Group Show
  • 2015 Museum of Biblical Art   Dallas Texas Group Show
  • 2015  Placitas Studio Tour
  • 2014  Singapore Affordable Art Fair/ represented by Matrix Fine Art
  • 2014 Matrix Fine Art, Albuquerque, N.M. Two Person Show
  • 2014 Curator and participant of  Pieces of the Whole, Albuquerque Open Space Visitor Center Gallery Group Show
  • 2013 Placitas Artist Series, Placitas, NM 3 person show
  • 2013 Public Project Placitas Community Mosaic Protect Our Wildlife Corridors, Laura Robbins and Cirrelda Snider-Bryan lead artists.
  • July 2013   Alluvial – Albuquerque Open Space Gallery     Group Show
  • 2013  Albuquerque Open Space Seeds: A Collective Voice MNM Group Show
  • 2012 Placitas Artist Series, NM 2 person show
  • 2012  Albuquerque Museum Miniatures and More Group Show
  • 2012  Taos Art Glass Invitational Group Show
  • 2012   Abstract Matrix Fine Art, Albuquerque Group Show
  • 2012   Mill Fine Art, Santa Fe    New Mexico Contemporary Glass Invitational
  • 2012   Red Boot Gallery  Bernalillo, NM Group Show
  • 2012   Arte de Placitas     Placitas, N.M.      Group Show
  • 2012   Santa Fe Community Gallery  Elements      Group Show
  • 2012   Albuquerque Museum  Shaken Not Stirred    Group Show
  • 2012  516 Gallery  (Alb., NM) New Mexico Showcase Group Show
  • 2012   Matrix Fine Art, Alb. N.M. Group Show
  • 2011    Albuquerque Museum Miniatures and More  Group Show
  • 2011    Las Cruces Museum of Art  From the Ground Up  Group Show
  • 2011   Gallery 105 Albuquerque, N.M. 3 Artist Group Show
  • 2010`2013   Placitas Studio Tour   N.M. Open Studio
  • 2010   Gallery 105  Albuquerque, N.M.         Group Show
  • 2010   Placitas, N.M. Community Library One Person Show
  • 2010   Matrix Fine Art, Albuquerque, N.M. One Person Show 
  • 2010 Lessedra Gallery, Bulgaria2009     Red Dot Art Fair  Miami, Fla. Represented by Matrix Fine Art
  • 2025  University of New Mexico comprehensive Cancer Center All Things Exist  In Relationship
  • 2025  Albuquerque Open Space, Coors Blvd. Gray Water Kitchen
  • 2019  Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors. Co-artist.
  • 2018  Albuquerque Open Space , Coors.  Co-leader of mosaic mandalas-community involvement 
  • 2018  Wild Hearts Gallery sign, Placitas, NM.
  • 2017  Range Cafe, Alameda and Coors Blvd.  Albuquerque
  • 2017  Albuquerque Zoo. Education Courtyard 20 ft wall.
  • 2016  Norman Oklahoma Arts Council 14’x6’ mosaic with community participation. Lyons Park
  • 2015  Range Cafe, Montgomery Blvd. Alb.  North room fireplace.
  • 2012  Sandia Preparatory School, Albuquerque N.M.: Donor Recognition Mural, Student Center.
  • 2011-2013   Rust Medical Center, Rio Rancho, N.M.: Chapel mosaics and Garden Tiles.
  • 2011  Albuquerque Botanic Gardens Dragonfly Sanctuary: Mosaic Panel
  • 2008-12    Placitas Community Mural, Protect Our Wildlife Corridors. Visionary and co-coordinator of 70 foot long mosaic. PNM/ old Placitas Recycling Center Wall, Placitas, N.M.:
  • 2010. Placitas Community Library: Outdoor Sign
  • 2008. Accion New Mexico, Albuquerque, N.M.:  Donor Recognition Plaque.
  • 2008   The Range Cafe, Montgomery Blvd., Albuquerque, N.M. : Fireplace.    
  • 2006. Office of Jennifer Ridgeway, D.D.S., Albuquerque, N.M. : Decorative Mural.
  • 2006  Accion New Mexico, Albuquerque, N.M.: Donor Recognition Plaque.
  • 2006  Amy Biehl High School, Albuquerque, N.M.: Donor Recognition Plaque. 
  • 2005  Office of Dr. Jennifer Ridgeway, D.D.S., Albuquerque, N.M. : Decorative Murals.
  • 2005  The Range Cafe., Wyoming Blvd., Albuquerque, N.M. : Decorative Murals.
  • 2004  Sandia Preparatory School, Albuquerque, N.M. : Donor Recognition Mural, Student Center.
  • 2004  The Range Cafe, Menaul Blvd., Albuquerque, N.M. : Interior border design. 
  • 2003  The Atomic Grill, Santa Fe, N.M. : Pizza Oven/Fireplace.
  • 2002  The Range Cafe and Lizard Lounge, Bernalillo, N.M.: Fireplace.
  • 2001  Bosque School, Albuquerque, N.M. : Donor Recognition Mural, Peggy Findlay Fine Arts Center.
  • 2001  Bosque School, Albuquerque, N.M.: Donor Recognition Mural, Gerald and Betty Ford Library.
  • 2000  Bosque School, Albuquerque, N.M.: Donor Recognition Mural, 23 Acre Club. Admin. Bldg.

PRIVATE HOMES

Approximately 50 individuals have commissioned mosaics for their homes since 2002. Also, 100 Garden flagstones ordered by Homewise / Tessarae Development, Santa Fe, N.M.2015-2019. Many mosaic pieces are purchased by individuals and are in private collections.

  • 2012   Juror Recognition Award  Glass Alliance New Mexico and Mill Fine Art, Santa Fe.
  • 2011   Globalquerque Music Festival Poster Art
  • 2007   Award: Originals 2007 Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, NM New Mexico Women in the Arts/ 
  • National Museum of Women in the Arts
  • 2007   Las Placitas Association Hall of Fame in recognition of outstanding service to the Community
  • 2002   Award: Best In Show, New Mexico Potters Association, Harwood Art Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
  • Previously an etcher (NM Arts and Crafts Fair Purchase Award 1976 – displayed 2009 in a retrospective at the Albuquerque Museum.)
  • 2025    Albuquerque Journal 10/5 An Internal Journey (Healing Dreams)by Elizabeth Secor 
  • 2025   10/10 The Santa Fe New Mexican  Pasatiempo  Inside back cover full page image ofWater Cosmos Dream
  • 2023    Albuquerque Journal. 2/19 article by Kathaleen Roberts
  • 2022    March PBS Colores – One of 3 speaking featured mosaic artists
  • 2020.   TileLetter/Lesley Goddin
  • 2022    Co-author of A Self-guided tour to Mosaics of Central New Mexico 
  • 2013    Green Fire Times June Cover. Bosque Panel of Placitas Community Mosaic Mural. (Laura Robbins, lead artist; many other artists contributed.)
  • 2012    Mosaic Art Today  Schiffer Publishing Ltd.  (pages 194-199)
  • 2011    The Rio Rancho Observer November 16th
  • 2011    Eclectica  on-line literary magazine. November Issue  
  • 2011    Local IQ, March 24-April 6 Marquee, (Page 5)
  • 2010    Albuquerque Sunday Journal Arts, December 19th. (Page F1)
  • 2010     Sandoval SignPost. September Featured Artist 
  • 2009    Range Cafe Cookbook by Matt DiGreggory and Tom Fenton. (Pages 39, 40.) 
  • 2009    June 14th Sunday Arts Albuquerque Journal. Large photo of mosaic backsplash wrongly attributed to another artist. (Page 1)     
  • 2007    Su Casa Magazine   April 2007  (Pages 74-77)
  • 2004    Cover of Blue Mesa Review, Sixteen, UNM Literary Magazine.2003    Creative Garden Mosaics by Jill Mackay, Lark Books. Page 49.