I am not sure of the exact count, but I have about three-hundred boards, each of which is painted on both sides. Today I bought thirty more—a tenth of what I already have. Now I will sand them carefully, and then pack them together with the painted ones. This will be the last batch of pine boards I will ever get, I have decided. I will paint them slowly, though. It may take me an entire decade to get to the last one and thus round off my collection. Be that as it may, it is good to nail down things like these. Three-hundred and thirty boards is just my measure. Or so it appears today.

Addendum I (June 10, 2003)

Several friends, all painters, have wondered about the sale of my paintings. Would I not wish to see them go and do their magic elsewhere? Conversely, would I not miss them too much if I sold any of them? When I exhibited most of the boards at EAST International in 1998, at which time I had close to two-hundred and fifty of them, I set the price for the lot at one-million pounds sterling. In other words, I wanted to keep them. It is thus not surprising that I have sold only a few so far. Still, I would not mind selling many more, assuming a price that was high enough to compensate for my pain of parting with my paintings. There is a limit, though. That is the number of paintings I can exhibit in my Motovun home. It would be impossible for me to live without them around me. This is what I said to the friends who inquired. I just went back to the plans of my house and counted the shelf spaces I have envisaged for my boards on my walls. There are exactly one-hundred and twenty-five of them. In short, I would be happy to sell about two-hundred remaining ones. And that is my measure, too.

Addendum II (March 23, 2004)

With yesterday’s modest extension of the shelf space in my house, there is one-hundred and thirty-one space for permanent display of my boards. There will be no more, I have decided. In addition, there are one-hundred and fifty-six painted boards in the attic, and twenty-nine unpainted ones. All together, I now have two-hundred and eighty-seven painted boards. One day, when all the boards are painted, there will be three-hundred and sixteen of them. Of these, one-hundred and eighty-five will be available for sale. That is the tally. The final tally.