Photo courtesy Sora DeVore

Jamie Marraccini with his GumArt

Jamie Marraccini can chew some serious gum. By his own count, the 36-year-old has chewed 50,000 pieces.

On a good day he chews 25 pieces for about 25 minutes a shot, which he says is the perfect amount of time.

"I've been doing it since Cave Spring High School, ever since I started smearing gum in my Cave Spring locker," said Marraccini, who lives in Potomac Falls with his wife, Rana, and 2-year-old daughter, Marliana. (Both are gum chewers.)

He has moved on from his old locker and the days when he stuck gum to a wall in college. Now he turns chewed gum -- his and others' -- into art. Marraccini has even started a Chew By Numbers series (www.chewbynumbers.com), that allows gum chewers to make their own art. That way he doesn't have to depend on selling his own works.

At some point, he wants to expand his Chew By Numbers line to include the star on Mill Mountain. For now, the Chew By Numbers kits are space and comet, diamond and dots, and a tulip. Each kit, which comes with fresh gum, costs $12.95.

"Eventually I just kind of started to focus on characters to be in the art with larger-than-life features," said the artist, who recently was the subject of a story in The Washington Post's Sunday Source. "So I don't crank out a lot of these things in a year. I've been kind of slow and steady. I try to do things with the art that I find entertaining. The whole motivation for me was the entertainment factor."

He has co-workers who are willing to chew gum when he's working on an art project to add to the 30 works he has created.

"I let gum sit for a while because I'm not making large pieces every day," said Marraccini. "The chewed gum will sit in storage for a very long time. By that time, anything on there is already dead. I don't even think about it. [But] I don't rechew. That's my only rule."

When he's not smackin' gum, Marraccini, a Virginia Tech grad, is the chief operating officer for Innalabs.com. To see more of his work, go to www.gumart.com.

Weathering the storm

It wasn't long ago that WSLS (Channel 10) meteorologist Jamey Singleton, in a tearful interview, told viewers about his addiction to heroin, his recovery and how he put the beast to sleep. In some circles, the move would be a career killer.

But like the weather in March, things change. June's issue of The Roanoker magazine -- the one with WSLS's Juliet Bickford on the cover as Best Sex Symbol -- is proof.

The 27-year-old weatherman snagged major props in the issue, picking up silver honors for Best Local Sex Symbol (Male) along with WSLS anchorman John Carlin and good friend and former WSLS meteorologist Marc Lamarre. Singleton also picked up silver honors for Best Local TV Personality (Male).

If seeing him on TV isn't enough, visit his MySpace page (www.myspace.com/jameysingleton). You'll find pictures of him and his friends and looping video of a funny dance involving Singleton and Fox 21/27 anchor Natalie Faunce. Best of all, he has used Tony Toni Tone and Young MC songs as the music for his page.

If that still isn't enough Singleton, see him live at TGIFriday near Valley View Mall. Starting at 6 tonight, the restaurant will host a bartending flair competition with Roanoke mixologists facing off against Lynchburg's. Think Tom Cruise in "Cocktail."

It's a fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of the Roanoke Valley, and Singleton is expected to appear as a special guest judge.

Bell(a) of the ball?

Will Bella, the new women's magazine, be Southwest Virginia's answer to powerhouse monthlies like Elle and O, The Oprah Magazine?

Bella creator and publisher Joey Coakley Beck, former editor and creative director of City Magazine, thinks so. "It will appeal to any woman of any age and any background," she said. "It was something I thought about doing for some years. I'm at a good point in my life to do this. It's now or never."

Coakley Beck, 35, worked at City Magazine for 10 years but thought it was time to take on a new creative project.

Bella -- "beautiful" in Italian -- will be geared for women 19 to 60, and the content will range from a monthly day-in-the-life feature to a shopping section to a calendar of events for women.

"I'm trying to highlight women who would otherwise go unnoticed," Coakley Beck said.

In naming the new monthly, she said, "I was trying to find something catchy. Everyone is beautiful in their own way. I didn't want to do anything that would make some women feel they couldn't read it."

Bella will be on newsstands by June 1. The oversized magazine, which will be published by Beck Media Group, will be free and available throughout the Roanoke Valley. Distribution later will expand to other parts of Southwest Virginia.

"Eventually I'd like to have a women's weekend and a women's lecture series," said Coakley Beck, who has sons ages 15 and 1. "That's a little ways down the road but not too far."

Watch out, Vogue!

Media Mix is a new occasional column by Marques G. Harper.