The sketches that make up part of this notebook are a kind of colour diary of places I visited during this year. I had dreamed about capturing the colour palettes of the places I live in or visit while travelling, but to do so, a period of quiet and special contemplation was needed, something I only found this year during a journey of very deep personal searching.

During the trip, I began to realize that my way of being in the places I visited affected my perception of each one. I began to appreciate in detail the diversity of tones that coexist in a city, on a mountain, in a crypt, in a forest. I enjoyed observing intensely how they transformed moment by moment, in my presence.

On arriving in Rome, I came across warm ochres that matched my memories, and immediately felt the urge to make a record of those colour sequences of the ancient and modern city. Besides visiting some magical places in the city, friends took us to the town of Anagni to visit a small cathedral whose crypt dedicated to Saint Magnus contains some fantastic medieval frescoes. There I was astonished by a wonderful diagram, unicum al mondo, a landmark in its combination of science and art. This encounter motivated me to make new sketches in my notebook.

Later, walking through French meadows, breathing the pure air of forests, hills, ponds, I discovered the force of silence. And with it, I returned to the streets of Madrid, to its museums, where I am used to visiting some "old friends" and where I let myself be surprised by new encounters. In each one of these places and situations, I share what inspires and surprises me.

Back in Colombia, I find myself in the countryside, where I am moved by the sounds of the wind, water, fire, and earth. In the silence of the imposing mountains of Iguaque, a symphony of voices is revealed to me from the branches in motion, from the clouds expanding in the air like fireworks. I am struck by the consonance between the rhythm of those movements and that of my own breathing. The air enters and leaves my body slowly and I discover clarity, calm. My awareness of the world awakens in the instant that I manage to pause, quieten my thoughts and inhabit the present. At that moment when the brush leaves its coloured mark on the cotton paper, exquisitely crafted, the world stops for an instant and a door opens.

(Lina Espinosa, A door opens, 2025)