02/26/2026
by Victoria Ritter
Irfan Qureshi, founder of De Mairo, fell in love with lapis lazuli when he was 7 years old. “The first time I saw it, I was so fascinated with its tone,” he recalled. “It was so beautiful. With the gold flakes in it, I was drawn to the color.”
Irfan turned his hobby of collecting rocks and gemstones into a business. He established De Mairo in Pakistan, manufacturing lapis lazuli tiles for bathrooms, swimming pools, hotels and luxury projects. He began to research about the stone’s use in art, and for nearly two decades supplied pigments to global art material companies.
“After COVID, I decided to dedicate myself fully to paints and pigments made of gemstones,” Irfan said.
Getting Pigment From a Stone
De Mairo has provided high-quality lapis lazuli products for decades, using tons for tile projects and manufacturing pigments for other companies. Irfan’s experience with the stone has allowed him to appreciate its qualities. “We understand lapis lazuli much better than anyone else,” he said.
As Irfan began processing lapis lazuli, he realized that there was an art to the process. The stone is made of various minerals: the dominate lazurite (blue), calcite (white) and pyrite (gold). “It took me four or five years to find how to separate the minerals. I kept experimenting in my home,” Irfan stated. “The moment you start processing lapis lazuli and separating the minerals, the color will change.”
Typical extracting methods of lapis lazuli is time consuming and yields very little; one kilo of raw lapis produces 10 to 20 grams of pure lapis, according to Irfan. However, his process can extract 200 to 300 grams of pigment per kilo.
Only certain grades of lapis lazuli can be made into pigments. When Irfan purchases a new lot of lapis directly from Afghanistan, he determines the rocks’ hardness – which can vary between 5 and 6 on the Mohs hardness scale – and composition before grinding and refining it into pigment. “Every rock is different,” Irfan said. “They’re like fingerprints.”
As a result, De Mairo makes its pigments in small batches to best control the quality; Irfan takes on this responsibility himself as it is hard to teach. The key is to make a fine pigment without destroying the crystalline structure of the lapis lazuli. “There is a specific limitation when you are crushing lapis lazuli,” Irfan stated. “If you crush it more, it will destroy the crystalline structure and the color would turn into a gray.”
De Mairo has five shades of pigment: Fra Angelico Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Ultramarine Ash, Ultramarine Azure and Ultramarine Indigo. It recently launched lapis lazuli watercolor, oils and gauche, and Irfan hopes to eventually expand his catalog with pastels and inks. Although the company deals exclusively with lapis lazuli, Irfan is open to working with more gemstone paints in the future.
A key point of De Mairo’s pigments is that they are ready to use, no mulling required. Artists can simply add gum arabic or oil and start painting.
“Our aim is that every artist in the world should have access to lapis lazuli pigment and paints to use in their artwork,” Irfan stated. “Our pigments can be used with any medium – whether it’s acrylic, oil, egg tempera or watercolor – and they mix really well.”
Painting and Beyond
De Mairo has two types of customers: professional artists and those who use lapis lazuli for holistic purposes. The stone’s pigment is not only workable, but it also has excellent lightfastness and is luminous; old masters’ paintings with lapis lazuli remain just as vibrant as the time in which they were created.
“I don’t think that old masters were only using lapis because it was very expensive,” Irfan observed. “I believe that it was more related to its vibration, energy and connection.” In addition to paintings, De Mairo pigments have been used by luxury car companies and meditation rooms – especially in Buddhist temples.
De Mairo conducts gemstone paint workshops through its De Mairo Studio Workshops. Here, participants of various ages and skill levels work with lapis lazuli, malachite, red jasper and yellow jasper as they make paint and learn about the pigments’ properties. These sessions have drawn the attention of artists, universities, meditation leaders and psychotherapists.
“I believe lapis is not only a color,” Irfan said. “I have a spiritual connection with this stone. I get feedback from artists who say it’s not only artistic painting; it’s more of a therapeutic process when they are painting with lapis lazuli.”
Retailers Welcome
Now based out of Ontario, Canada, De Mairo distributes to countries across the globe. Its products are present in a handful of retail locations in Europe, and Irfan is seeking to build relationships with North America stores.
Retailers who partner with De Mairo receive support in various ways. The company runs ads and promotes stores on its website and social media pages. If a customer places an order online, De Mairo will direct them to nearby stores, offering a refund to encourage them to buy from the retailer. This way, De Mairo doesn’t run in direct competition with their partners.
Stores have the option to buy in small or large quantities. “I’m so confident about my product that once (retailers) have it, they will be keep asking because the kind of (customer) response they’re going to get,” Irfan said.
There is also space for learning, as De Mairo listens to customer’s needs. Irfan recalled how one retailer asked for 15ml oil paints rather than 40ml tubes to make it more financially accessible for customers. In turn, launching the 15ml oil paint caused oil paint sales to increase. “We are learning from the retailers and their experience,” Irfan said. “We are definitely going to promote them in the future.”
Customers can rest assured in the quality and commitment of De Mairo. It offers accessible pricing and offers a 100 percent money back guarantee. “When people are using our pigment, they are coming back,” Irfan reported. “We’ve had a 100 percent satisfaction rate for the last 25 years.”
De Mairo will attend Creativeworld in February as a visitor and plans to exhibit at Creativation by Namta in May as well as exhibit at Creativeworld next year. Those interested in carrying De Mairo’s pigments and paints can contact info@demairo.com or irfan@demairo.com.
Although De Mairo has become a trusted manufacturer of lapis lazuli pigments and paints, Irfan wants to contribute more to the art community. “De Mairo is not going to be just a company making pigment,” he said. “I want to turn it into an institute that supports artists. We are working to bring a revival of traditional art and are looking at how we can support it.”
