Galleries are awash with colour. Take Paul Klee’s current exhibition, Making Visible at Tate Modern, which runs until March. The exhibition holds a sense of liberation and joy with his iconic, abstract patchworks of colour. He was no shrinking violet (pardon the pun) and there is much to learn from the use of shade with such abandon. It offers an outlet of emotion. Matisse, the master of colour, used it in the final stages of his life as he came to realise that it offered a true expression of his inner psyche. An exhibition of his cut-outs opens at Tate Modern in April.

Take a leaf out of Beyonce’s book. As more and more people are becoming vegetarian or vegan, fruit and vegetables are on the up. Capitalise on this and eat a rainbow: take a trip to the Rainbow Café on King’s Parade to get your fill. Feast on their gorgeous lasagnes, risottos, tagines and lots more. If you have a sweet tooth, then take a trip to Jack’s Gelato, located at Sussex Street’s Nord. A cacophony of colours awaits you in ice cream form, with flavours ranging from pistachio and rose petal to orange flower to lavender. What pleases the eyes pleases the body.

You don’t have to be an artist to enjoy this new trend. Pantone, the world’s leading authority on colour, has chosen its 2014 shade: radiant orchid, “an enchanting harmony of fuchsia, purple and pink”. It’s already been featured on the catwalk by designers such as Missoni and Max Mara. Incorporate the handsome hue into your own wardrobe. For the more cautious among you, dip a toe in the water with a nail varnish, eyeliner, tie or scarf. 

If you’re more of an abstract thinker, experience colour through debate. Take, for example, our attachment to the iconic Cambridge Blue. Such is its symbolism that you see it plastered across advertising for each sports match. Ironically, the exact shade is disputed. Boaties, for example, use a different blue to the Rugby club, the Boat Club colour being created when more yellow was added to the shade. 

Colour overload? Need some respite? Renowned potter and Cambridge graduate, Edmund de Waal’s On White exhibition runs until 23 February 2014 at the Fitzwilliam Museum. The exhibition explores the history of white through the medium of Chinese porcelain. It is truly fascinating: white in China is the colour of mourning and the exhibition has an element of unreality and the ethereal about it. Take a moment to meditate and relax as you peruse.