Who We Are

Meredith Purvis

Meredith spent her formative years with her nose in any book she could find. After traipsing off to college, she decided she might just try writing a book of her own. Her love affair with the written word and its paper landscape is lifelong, so imagine her surprise when she discovered she could make her very own books. Meredith received an M.F.A. in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts from the University of Baltimore; her thesis for the program was a hand-bound book of poems titled The Mockingbird’s Song; the production of this handmade work was limited to 30 copies.

Avelino Maestas

Despite Avelino’s deep and abiding love of all things tech (he reads on a Kindle, *gasp*), he, too, has been charmed by the quiet art of binding. He is UpDown’s resident box maker and engineer–need a jewelry box? He’s got you covered! He’s also a whiz with an x-acto knife and ruler (nobody can cut paper like this kid can). He’s as crafty as they come.