American master basket weaver Tina Puckett weaves her native Bittersweet vine in Connecticut and then weaves her way across the United States. This weekend finds her in the Kingdom of Breckenridge.

“I always wanted to come to Breckenridge for two reasons: One, I think my woven works lend themselves to this area. And two, I am very much drawn to the mountains,” Puckett said. “I have not been disappointed; Breckenridge is such a beautiful place on this Earth. I can feel the vibrations and the mountains singing spiritual music.”

Puckett averages 15 juried shows annually and will be at the 12th annual Breckenridge Main Street Art Festival today through Sunday.

A couple of weeks ago, Puckett was in Summit County for the Breckenridge July Art Festival, followed by shows in Edwards and Jackson Hole, Wyo. The Bittersweet vine that grows locally in Winsted, Conn., where she lives and works in her studio, influences Puckett’s works.

“The character of each piece of vine literally dictates what form each basket, bowl, wall sculpture or piece of furniture will take,” she said.

Puckett then applies her imagination and sense of color to the structural form and to weaving dynamic and colorful works. She describes herself as self-taught and started back in 1981 studying set design in college, where she developed her understanding of color and construction. She has created her own weaving technique, which she calls “Dimensional Weaving,” in which she layers reeds of different colors to produce multi-hued, richly textured, highly dimensional woven sculptures.

This technique is clearly seen in the different shades of color that define the petals in Puckett’s giant flower sculptures and the mountains in her woven landscape sculptures.

With her knowledge of construction, she is able to build very sturdy pieces of furniture on legs of twisted Bittersweet vine. Adding a beveled glass surface to a tabletop allows visual appreciation of the colorful dimensional weaving throughout a table’s Bittersweet frame.

Puckett’s works have been exhibited in museums, art galleries and libraries and at craft show events nationally and internationally. Her work has also been featured in magazines, newspapers and books and on television.