It's ten o'clock in the morning. The studio ofConcha Sampol is neater than what I am used too There is much light in the upper part of Barcelona. An easel, each painting in its place and a table for tranquil work. Pulchritude governs the place. Everything is measured. The environment transmits great aesthetic concern. We'll see how none of this is foreign to the work.

We begin to talk about painting. Suddenly, it seems like we're at school, when we stopped in front of the work of others and shared experiences, before undertaking solitary pathways. I've known Concha for more than thirty years. Since then, I've seen her paint. l've lost her and found her again. She was and is a restless woman, as high-living as she is wilful and applied. Elegant and very much a painter. In the beginning she acquired excellent skills.

Perhaps as a reaction to her innate abilities, she has gradua}ly placed limitations on her express ion. Anecdotes aside, too many references aside and concessions aside, and especially concessions to herself aside. We talk about painting, with her it has a purely pictoriallanguage. Rationality weighs. From reason, she seeks beauty. The formats are cautious: one limitation more, one concession less. She's not looking for nor does she seek refuge in effect. She struggles for "awork well done." And she obtains it with very few means. Like her environment, her work isalso measured: the right gram weight of paper, the proper tone of colour, the precise texture and a very studied composition. From its depth, well worked, in each of the elements of the composition, it invites us to pore over the work. Wherever she wants. There are many subtleties that enable us to discover the process of creation.

We painters like to see how a work is made. In this sense, the painting of Concha is very transparent: you can see how the painting grows. I've also seen her grow. Because of a great self-imposition, she is increasingly more sober, more concrete. We've talked about painting, we've gone to lunch, to see the Ramon Casas exhibition, to the opening of a friend's bar.

From ten to ten. I return to Palma. I think of painting, 1 think of those works which, without effort, I made a liule mine. They are, I think, the ones that will open pathways for Concha. They are the ones that speak to us, not only of her present, but especially of her future.

Palma, febrero 2001