Pat Miller’s Bam Booty wins AAW Turning of the Week spotlight

Russ Braun put Pat Miller’s Bam Booty in the American Association of Woodturners’ Turning of the Week spotlight because it hit him immediately as the work of a “Segmenter” and kept drawing him back. The piece combines black walnut, birch dowels, turning, carving and embellishment into one compact form, and Braun said it “continues to entertain” him.

What makes Bam Booty stand out to experienced turners is how the parts work together instead of competing for attention. The AAW media entry describes it as a 4-footed vessel with handle and lid in black walnut, wrapped in a sleeve of birch dowels. A small ring of matching dowels on the lid pull ties the top back to the body, so the lid does not read as an afterthought. At 8 inches by 5-1/2 inches by 4 inches, it is small enough to invite close inspection and layered enough to reward it.

Braun’s note focused on that surface treatment, saying the embellished dowels build a dense bamboo-forest illusion. That decision turns the dowels into a visual ring, not just a structural sleeve, and gives the vessel a stronger presence than a straightforward segmented form would have on its own. The design also includes a knob that hints at bamboo and a carved leaf topper, pushing the piece beyond pure turning into a tighter blend of segmentation and carving.

The spotlight also fit the rhythm of the AAW Forum, where Turning of the Week serves as a peer-to-peer nod to inventive work and fresh ideas. The American Association of Woodturners describes itself as dedicated to advancing the art and craft of woodturning worldwide through education, information and organization, which is exactly the kind of setting where a piece like Bam Booty gets traction. It is not just a finished object, but a demonstration of how a familiar vessel can be rebuilt into something playful and deliberate.

Miller’s name was already active in the AAW member galleries in late May 2026, with posts including The Elegant Squirrel and The Floral Arrangement, so Bam Booty arrives as part of an ongoing conversation rather than a one-off reveal. That is what gives Braun’s choice its snap: the form is clever, the construction is disciplined, and the bamboo illusion lands hard enough to make the whole piece feel like a small, finished idea with a lot of motion inside it.