Pantone's Color of the Year 2016

Well, it's not exactly breaking news, since we are three weeks into the New Year. Nonetheless, it's time to take note of Pantone's "Color of the Year" for 2016. This year's choice is "ROSE QUARTZ".  I should note that this year, Pantone actually named two colors. The other is a baby blue, called "Serenity". As some pundits have said, 

you would think we were decorating a nursery!

I am not much of a trend follower. In fact, I often remind myself of Edgar Degas' wise words, quoted below. Degas died in 1917, so his words are at least 100 years old, and yet they are more true today than ever.

It seems to me that today, if the artist wishes to be serious — to cut out a little original niche for himself, or at least preserve his own innocence of personality — he must once more sink himself in solitude. There is too much talk and gossip; pictures are apparently made, like stock-market prices, by competition of people eager for profit... All this traffic sharpens our intelligence and falsifies our judgment.

Amen to that! I hope we do not see a proliferation of paintings trying to incorporate these two Pantone colors. That said, I will close with a painting I completed last year, long before I had even heard the words "Rose Quartz". An interesting coincidence that the colors happen to be on trend. But merely a coincidence!

"Soft Pink"
Oil on Linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2015
Read more about this one here.