Hi, I'm Mette Stryhn. I started Art to Basic.

Before this, I trained as a physiotherapist and trauma therapist. It's a different field, but it's still part of who I am. Helping people understand themselves and heal is something I still care deeply about.

Art to Basic is about watercolor. Every color is mixed in small batches from raw pigment and natural binders. Some batches come together in an afternoon. Others take longer, and there isn't always a good reason why.

I live just outside Sorø, Denmark. Most colors begin with something I've noticed outdoors first.

I don't think of what I make as especially impressive. It's paint. But it's made carefully, and I'd rather take the time to get it right than rush it. That feels like a good way to make things. It also feels like a good way to live.

Much love, Mette

My Mission

Art to Basic started because I got curious.

Then I got obsessed.

The more I learned about pigments, materials, and how paint is actually made, the more I started noticing something slightly annoying: a lot of art supplies are basically built on mystery, marketing, and “trust me bro.”

And once you’ve looked behind the curtain, it’s hard to unsee it.

I began to understand how much the material choices matter. For the work, yes. But also for the world around us. What’s in the paint. How it’s sourced. What gets added. What gets wasted. And which shortcuts we accept because it’s “just paint.”

It is never just paint.

So I started making my own. Slowly. In small batches. From raw pigment and simple ingredients. And honestly, I think it changed more than my colors. It changed my pace.

Because paint has one very inconvenient quality: it does not care about your productivity plan. You can’t rush it without it behaving badly. Kind of like humans.

Making paint became a way of working that feels responsible rather than rushed. A way of staying in integrity with both the materials and myself. No factory energy. No “launch faster” nonsense. Just craft, attention, and the kind of quiet focus you can actually breathe in.

Art to Basic is for people who notice materials. Who care about what they’re using, and why it matters.

And who see creativity as part of everyday life, not a performance.

My Vision

My vision for Art to Basic is to grow without losing its soul.

I don’t want “bigger” just to win some imaginary business game. I want deeper. Deeper material choices. Deeper understanding. Better colors. More honesty.

I want to keep working with care. Care for the earth. Care for the pigments. Care for the people painting with them. And yes, care for myself too, because I’m not interested in building a brand that runs on stress and bad posture.

I make paint with enough space to notice what’s actually happening. What the pigments are doing. What the water is doing. What the mix needs. And what I need. Because rushing always shows in the end result. Paint is very good at exposing you.

Art to Basic is here to support a way of working where creativity fits into real life. Where handmade isn’t about perfection, or hustle, or productivity. It’s about staying connected to what you work with and how you live.

If this kind of pace feels like relief to you, then you’re already part of it.