A Couple of Questions for The Little Friends of Printmaking

Since interviewing ourselves doesn’t really count, the first couple in our Couple of Questions series is The Little Friends of Printmaking. Melissa and JW Buchanan are known far beyond their home base in Milwaukee for their amazing silkscreen posters.

How did you meet and and how long have you been together?

M: We met in college in 2D Design. It was a very boring class but you could bring records in for the whole class to listen to, and we both tried to impress each other with our selections.
JW: Melissa brought in a copy of “If You’re Feeling Sinister” by Belle & Sebastian, and though it’s forgotten now, that record was extremely rare because their record label had gone out of business shortly after releasing it. That meant Melissa was not only super-cool, but also punctual. That was 13 years ago, and we’ve been married for 10.

Chicken or egg: did you become romantically involved first and then start working together, or was it the other way around?

M: We started working together first. Our styles were already very similar when we met, and collaboration came easily to us.

If you had to start all over and work together in some other occupation, what would you choose?
JW: Doubles tennis partners. Con artists.
M: There aren’t a lot of occupations where you get to work alongside your partner. I’m picturing us as ambulance-chasing injury lawyers, pointing and screaming in unison while pounding the table. “WE OBJECT!” And you know that our commercials would be the corniest and best.

In what ways do your individual talents lend themselves to your collaborative projects?

JW: Our talents mostly overlap. I don’t know if I have a specialty, except for drawing snouts. If you see a snout in our work, I probably drew it, although not always.
M: I’m good at sending emails that don’t sound angry while conveying extremely furious information.

What is your favorite piece of work that you’ve done together? (Children, if applicable, do not count.)

M: I like when we do a solo show and we get to hang our work in an installation. I like seeing everything together and the challenge of arranging your work to tell a story is an interesting project.
JW: I liked those tee-shirts we did for Johnny Cupcakes. We got to use a lot of color and we didn’t have to print them, which was maybe the best part. Let’s face it—I’m lazy.

Any advice for couples who work together in a creative field?

JW: Don’t fight over bad projects. Sometimes you can make frustration seem personal, when really it’s just that a project stinks and you’re both frustrated with it.
M: If you don’t have the utmost respect for your partner—both their talent and their taste—then don’t bother working together. You’ll just end up hurting each other’s feelings. It’s not against the law for two artists to be in a relationship and never collaborate.

Thanks, guys! You can keep up with Melissa and JW on Twitter and Flickr.

Throughout February, we’re interviewing creative couples on Perfect Laughter. Read more interviews in the Couple of Questions series…

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