The Sunday Roast

Painter, Poet And Writer - Chewy Does It All

This week's interview is with Chewy,
who writes the blog The Back Of My Headboard.

The first of the standard questions. Why do you blog?

One day I went fishing... and darn it... I got myself caught in the net. Now I surf the wave, riding high, tumbling low, all the while discovering new beaches. Eventually other surfers slip into my wake and follow back to my towel. They rest, take in the scenery and converse. We share sunny ideas and warm comments. It’s a delightful place to be.

What’s the story behind your blog name?

I started a blog on the spur of the moment. - Screen name? um... c-h-e-w-y. "Chewy" as in that bubblegum song "Chewy Chewy". A joke between a friend and I. The lyrics "Always has a mouthful of such sweet things to say," expanded my full screen name to Chewy Sweetwater. The back of my headboard is where, as a kid, I stuck my chewed gum. The Back Of My Headboard is where I hang my art.

What is the best thing about being a blogger?

Hanging my abstract paintings on the virtual gallery wall. Welcoming in old friends, lurking relatives and new visitors, listening to their observations and learning from their comments. And the best part of all is - it’s free!

What key advice would you give a newbie blogger?

First the obvious, visit David McMahon’s Authorblog. Pop in, flip through his journal, look through his viewfinder, leave a comment and check out the Post of the Day. Secondly, I’d advise signing up at Blog Cataolog. The site is a social blog directory, a great place to promote your blog and/or find blogs on various topics of interest.

What is the most significant blog post you’ve ever read?

I don’t recall any one particular post I’ve read. If my attention is not grabbed in the first few sentences of text... I’m on to the next blog. (sorry) So many blogs, so little time. One long time favorite blog to read is Shrink Wrapped Scream. Shrinky paints pictures with her words and tends to pull my emotions all around. Quite often she leaves the reader hanging, begging for more. A wonderful unexpected result is that her writings have inspired some of my paintings. Cool, huh?

Being an artist, I’m more attracted to art based blogs, painters in particular. The past few months have been especially exciting in that I have found a supportive circle of artists to share ideas, materials and techniques with. If you’re interested in art topics, click on over to Kim’s blog Creating Space; One Contemporary Artist's Ramblings, Discussions and Ideas. Kim always presents an engaging question at the end of her posts. Her comment section is like plopping down on a couch in an artist’s studio and joining in on the conversation.

What is the most significant blog post you’ve ever written?

I express myself visually through my artwork. I’m not a verbose writer, so I’ve not really written anything very significant. I’ve been trying my hand at writing haikus. My approach is usually as picture puzzles; describing an image using few words. I post them on Tuesdays.

Today's Sunday Roast with Chewy is the 30th in a weekly series of interviews with bloggers from around the world.

Post Of The Day

Today's winner is the very talented Chewy, whose post Day With Magua is so vivid that you can almost feel the ocean teasing your toes while the sand eddies around your ankles in that strange gravity-tempting manner. Among the other outstanding posts today are Jo's What Makes You Happy, Twas Brillig's We Put The Fun In Funeral, OHara's Say Hello To Sunshine and KMF's memorable picture Evening Game.

To nominate a post, just leave me the url.

Blank Check

The Answer Is Revealed: My Middle Name Is ....

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Yesterday I posted Malcolm In The Muddle in response to a tag, and asked you, my readers, to guess my middle name. Thank you for all the great responses, some of them absolutely hilarious. I'd be hard-pressed to choose a favourite, but the irrepressible Chewy gave it her best shot, using a very ingenious method (through a blog other than my own) to try and elicit an answer, while she fessed up: ``Actually my first thought was that you didn't have a middle name. BUT, I didn't think you'd play that game. You got me! And I Googled your name all over the net! Ha-ha!''

And the answer is: I do not have a middle name!

Which kinda reminds me of a story I read when I was a kid. There was a bloke who had no name, just initials. He was R. B. Jones. He used to get exasperated by people who asked what his "real name" was. So one year, he submitted a tax declaration and signed it "R. (only) B. (only) Jones". Sure, he got a tax refund. But it was made it to Ronly Bonly Jones.