Before I moved to Motovun, I had shipped from Reading thirty pine boards prepared for painting. Now there are twenty of them left in the attic. At this pace, I will go through them in seven years. Way too soon, I fear. Even if I paint no more than two boards a year, there are only ten years to go. And so I cannot but be aware of the end of my Cave Art Now project. Painfully aware, I must add. No matter how much I curtail my urge to cover the boards with paint, the end is nigh. Predictably enough, I am starting to think about the last board. The end of the line. A short while ago I sketched one side of that last board. It is a pattern that I found on a decorative panel in a Chinese restaurant in Zagreb. A joke, to be sure, but a fitting one. A decorative flourish only points at the fate of all entoptic forms—they are so deeply embedded in the human mind as to become innocuous. Indeed, domesticated. But my boards are two-sided, which means that I am in search of yet another pattern of the same ilk. Luckily, I have at least seven years to find it.

Addendum I (August 22, 2013)

Having painted the last painting in my Cave Art Now cycle, and according to plan, I cannot but marvel at it. Surprisingly, it seems to spell out a clear message: “And so on, and so forth.” Even though it will not be me who will continue the cycle, it will keep going on and on. For it must. More important, it does not matter who it will be who will continue the cycle. One way or another, it is ours entire. Who, when, and where has come up with any of its parts is irrelevant, anyway. Hooray for the human species!

Addendum II (July 14, 2016)

The last board I painted always shows the decorative flourish from a Chinese restaurant in Zagreb. Having forgotten what was painted on the other side, I just turned the board around. It shows a pattern of three intertwined swastikas. The piece written the same day as the first addendum to this piece briefly describes it as “yet another play on swastikas bound together,” and that is all (“The End of the Cave Art Now Cycle,” August 22, 2013). Indeed, swastikas preoccupied me for quite a number of years, but the interest has waned as of late. I wonder why. The three intertwined swastikas now strike me as yet another decorative flourish without any deeper significance, let alone a menacing touch. Was that what I had on my mind when I was completing the cycle?

Addendum III (August 28, 2020)

As of late, my eyes often fasten onto the last painting in the Cave Art Now cycle. This happens especially when I am returning to my livingroom from the terrace of my house. But the words that come to my mind on such occasions surprise me no end: “Und so weiter.” Time after time, I am stunned by the German rendering of the English expression from the first addendum. “And so forth,” that is. But why in German, of all languages? That will remain a mystery till my last breath, I am convinced already. One way or another, this is the title I would give to the painting if I had to. And the intertwined swastikas on the other side of the same board would kind of explain it, I reckon. But the connection between the two only crossed my mind a moment ago, which means that it is far from credible. The very last joke on the entire cycle, or so I would sincerely hope.