Where Iris Mosaic Idea came from
June 28, 2017

Once upon a time in the 80's, there was a very successful business known as FCQ Eximtraders.  They exported unique fashion jewelry components that were used by jewelry designers in the US, Europe and Japan.   The components they exported were 100% handmade by small cottage industry type outfits that employed lots of artisans. Most of the suppliers belong to lower financial rung of society and their workers were poorer still. But every time there was work for them - they were happy. 

            

components for fashion jewelry - year 1984
back then, we did not take orders. whatever we produced the market just snapped up

But times have changed. What was once a booming market has dried up.  And 30 years later a much smaller company FCQ ended up with a tons of over runs of components. It was tough deciding whether to spend money to keep them or simply throw them away.

But I thought I had a way to use them

Back home in NJ, USA, I sometimes kept my grandkids ocupied with a hobby. I'd ask them to choose images on the internet then I'd print them and they'll cover them up with matching beads  -- then the whole thing gets tacked on our wall. Like paintings. They had fun (but in all honesty they still preferred TV). Anyway - what very young kids could accomplish without trainig (see below) gave me an idea. 

It just so happened we had a lot of stock of iris material in so many stages of production and since it is a very fllexible raw material - could be transformed into so many shapes, textures and colors so we used that first. This is how Iris Mosaic got started when I went back home to Cebu.

  


 And we think we have. In the now booming interior design market place.  Picture frames if you will.  But not just the usual paint or ink on canvas.  We've decided to hang components on them as well. We call them Iris Mosaics.  Much like we make pendants to hang on necklaces so could a painting use these inlays for richer effect.

You may say we are trying to do for the picture frame what we did for the necklace. Invent components to attach to them. And these components will of course be coming from the same group of artisans who despite the years still unfortunately are still stuck in the same tough life. 

In this website, we want to show off the concept and the items themselves. By the time you see the items - some of them may already have been reserved for.  And much as we would like to take orders for one of a kind - that may not be practical or could be very expensive.  So just check out this site often lest you miss something you really like.