There was quite a response to this year’s Pantone 2026 color of the year, Cloud Dancer, a white. It was called gutsy, a cop-out, and there was puzzlement and even a bit of outrage. For me it seemed perfect when it was released in late 2025. Why did it seem perfect? Because when I looked forward to the upcoming year, it looked blank. bleak, and I saw nothing to look forward to.
As time went on, I began to see it differently. What if the whiteness was the backdrop or blank canvas for what is to come? What if the white color, Cloud Dancer, was the unknown waiting for us to fill it with color, line, shapes, new creativity and connections? Instead of bleak blankness, I’m changing my view and choosing to look at the color of the year and the actual 2026 year with openness full of possibility.
To be honest, I haven’t really liked the Pantone colors of the year since 2020, and we all know how that year went. With this blank, fresh start, I also looked at other company’s colors for the year, and found just what I didn’t know I was looking for.
My favorite color palette for 2026 is by Behr paint, with the the main color being a beauty: Hidden Gem. Their whole palette is inspiring me with pattern design ideas I’m already working on.
Behr Color of the Year 2026
Seeing these two colors together affirms my focus on nature and the seasons for this year. They are both very livable and the perfect, peaceful base to work from this year. It’s amazing how color can set the tone for our well-being.
Inspired by the colors and the new start of the new year, I went to Home Depot and picked up a color of the year paint card and the Behr Color Trends 2026 brochure. With the brochure in hand, I perused my studio for journal pages and other paraphernalia that blended well with the Behr colors to put them on a Cloud Dancer-esque color background.
It was interesting. Generally I don’t think of colors as prophetic, but as I was looking for things to include in the picture that had the colors of the Behr paint color palette, I found the items speaking to me about what to paint, themes to focus on etc. I was literally looking through bins and boxes with color trend brochure in hand. The items seemed to sort themselves into seasons and I’m taking the text included in the images as clues for upcoming discoveries and growth.
Season Photos - Snippets of Winter
Gathering things I’ve made and collected together to feature in a square photo helps me consider what is important to me at the time. Only so much can fit in the square on the table, and sometimes it involves letting go of what is good but not ‘just right’ at the time. Here’s a closer look at what made the cut:
Benefits of gathering & photographing personal items:
Each item collected holds a unique story. In this photo collage, the little snowy tree was painted after I snapped a photo on a walk in Garden Valley, Idaho. The stones, pinecones, and shells were all found on walks; the Celtic knots were done as a part of the 100-day project, after my Keys to Drawing Celtic Knots course with a timely message; and the miniature book with Scripture and hymns were done in a time of joyful transition. Old binoculars belonged to a man who lived a lonely life and they remind me to look closely, look ahead and take risks; and the ornate key is to something unknown from my father-in-law’s collection of unknown things. It also holds a lesson. The two little watercolor evergreen trees were the best part of a failed painting I did when I was a teenager; the Brambly Hedge Winter Story is one of the seasonal books I bought as an adult for myself years ago and now I share the same stories with my grandchildren. I even used the Brambly Hedge stories as inspiration to paint a reading/play nook in the kids guest bedroom. That sparks an idea for another blog post. You can see how items with personal history tell a story that are also prompts for the new year. Especially as we age, this process is a way to reflect back and look forward with new perspective. Putting things in a new context reveals new possibilities.
I hope you are inspired to look around your home and daily life and see new and joyful possibilities.
As you begin this new year, may you be filled with colors of hope!
Be blessed!
Valerie
Your Word focused e-course
If you want to dig deeper into your word and expand your creative techniques, check out my online course ‘A Beautiful Word.’
Further Word of the Year Inspiration
Here are a few previous blog post links about keeping a journal with a word focus for the year.
How to choose a word of the year
How I explore my word of the year
https://www.valeriesjodin.com/blog/word-of-the-year-2025-journal
https://www.valeriesjodin.com/blog/journals-set-up-2025-washi-tape
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