Our new place in Berkeley Springs, WV. Big image if you clicky!

28 September 2014

To our wonderful Clients and Colleagues,

After a year and a half of planning and swimming upstream versus the challenging procedurals, selling the Nanuet house, three months of camping in the woods while house hunting, then buying and prepping the new house, we are actually in the new place! So as of last Thursday, the Studio is officially under REconstruction and REwired. We're plugged back in to Comcast Internet and have full connectivity! For those of you paticularly sharp-eyes, yes, that IS Led Zepplin playing on Pandora... Note the coffee cup next to keyboard and my wacom tablet... some things are NOT gonna change.

We found a lovely small home suitable for our needs just outside Berkeley Springs, WV up on a nice hill with a fair bit of land, green and trees. We closed on the house end of July. Since then we've been tidying it up, spanking it into shape, and creating our new home and studio spaces. We could have never imagined the complexity and opacity of the paperwork and procedural process involved in a relocation under the ... new rules. But the glaciers thawed, the dominies finally lined up, large checks changed hands and we finally landed.

The Studio’s new digs. Before the paperwork caught up and buried my table! Big image if you clicky!

We had been operating out of temporary quarters at Four Quarters Interfatih in South Central PA – very awesome people – while we prepped the house in Berkeley Springs for moving in. Thank you SO MUCH for the space and the support while we were homeless, transient, gyspy art people. But we have "transferred the flag" and I am now actually working out of the new space – and hella view, folks. My original plan is finish part of the basement and eventually move back into a lower level space, but that view sure is kinda nice, and I’m definitely reconsidering that notion!

Da view. Clicky to Check it out biggah...

Most people seem to have epic same-day moves, involving trucks and platoons of stout lads. For older creative folk, moving is much more a process than an event. We had been waiting for the floor people to refinish the hardwood floors so we could actually move in while we statted clearing out the storage spaces. Next up we’re replacing the ancient basement windows, installing a pellet stove to augment the electric baseboard heat (new territory for us Northeners), and generally making the place a home and workplace and getting re-established in the new neighborhood both as residents and a business.

As we’d previously announced, for economic and other family reasons, we had decided to relocate both the Studio and our home to a more affordable region. We expect that for the majority of you will see very little difference in the execution of our projects. In the rapidly evolving digital age, the overwhelming majority of my work now takes place over the internet. As internet and mobile technologies grow ever more capable; working remotely is less challenging and ever more seamless. Where this workstation is actually physically located is increasingly of little importance, so long as it’s connected. The net result is that by significantly reducing our ever rising overhead, we expect to be able to hold the line on our rates and keep our services competitive going forward.

As our process of settling in moves along, we have been trying our absolute best to minimize any disruption in your work during the relocation. We will certainly keep you all informed as things fall into place and we focus on opening the new studio, and thank all of you who've hung with us for your patience and perseverence the past feew months.

The New Address!:

Fantastic Realities Studio
161 Grove Heights Road, Berkeley Springs, WV 25411

Our Email addresses are functioning normally.

Our 845 623-0940 land line number has been moved to a mobile number
so you will still be able to reach us here.

We've a new Land Line number at 304 500-2142.
 

Our mobile number at 917 776-6327* has been phased out due to poor Sprint service (by "poor," I mean kind of stinks ) at this new location.

Please feel free to call or email me with any questions or concerns.

A huge benefit of my industry is that I can work anywhere I have a roof (that doesn’t leak), electricity and a high speed internet connection. So no matter where we end up, I expect that I can continue to serve you for many years to come. I may be a ink-stained veteran, but there’s no set retirement age for Designers! Wherever we land, I look forward to being “that guy from Brooklyn.” As the guy in the movie said, “no matter where you go, there you are.” So that’s absolutely where we’re going to be.

We didn’t make this decision lightly, and hope you’ll all join us in this adventure to stay competitive. We are very grateful to each and every one of you. Though your patronage, loyalty, referrals and the expertise I’ve been able to call upon, you’ve made it possible for us to keep the doors open and do some very good work in some very challenging economic times. It’s been our pleasure to serve your graphic and web design needs, and hope to continue to do so for many years to come.

Stay tuned. More to come. Watch this space.

Kurt E. Griffith, Creative Director
Heather G S Griffith, Muse & Advisor