2013 Color of the Year: Emerald

It’s Minnesota, the snow is gone, the birds are singing, one word comes to mind, green.  What is my favorite color?  I’m not sure I have just one.  I know if you ask me during the winter months, I’m apt to declare green, hoping to catch a glimpse of it outside. I love being in my gardens, the rich colors, I wonder how many tones of green I have? This year’s Pantone Color of the Year is “Emerald.”  Being in the gem industry, I love that they chose an actual gem to name the color of the year. Last year was Tangerine Tango, and 2011 was Honeysuckle. Now that being said, when I look at Pantone’s actual color….I don’t think Emerald, I think of two other gems. My immediate choice is mint Tourmaline found in Afghanistan, also known as blue-green Tourmaline. I think if you matched the gem to the paint card, it would be dead on. The second gem I think of is Paraiba Tourmaline. This gem comes from Brazil and Mozambique. I think it looks like Mozambique Paraiba.

This is how Pantone describes the color Emerald: “Lively. Radiant. Lush… A color of elegance and beauty  that enhances our sense of well-being, balance and harmony.” I just drifted back to my gardens! I wonder, do we as Minnesotans appreciate the great outdoors more because we have four seasons, or do we appreciate color more because we suffer 6 months with the absence of it? Something to ponder. I laugh to myself, my husband and I are in the thick of picking out colors to re-paint  the interior rooms of our house.  He wants lively and bold, I’m on board with just a tone or two less in the bold category. One color we want to use is basically Pantone’s “Emerald”. Funny I am just now making that association.  He actually described a mint Tourmaline gem to the color stylist!  Color is fun and as Pantone so poetically put it….it enhances our sense of well-being and harmony.  Stop in and see the Tourmalines and I’ll let you know how the walls turn out!

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