Delvan and Melissa are a young couple that are continuing their family's tradition of jewelry making. Both have held other jobs, but in 1999 they decided to devote themselves full-time to the art of hand-drawn silver beads.
It started in the family mid-century when Melissa's grandfather, Ray Rosetta, was in the military in Germany and was given a draw plate. He learned how to strip and score a sheet of sterling silver and pull it through the plate to create a tube. His wife Mary became involved when Ray returned to the pueblo, and they began to use a series of draw plates with smaller and smaller holes to create even smaller and finer tubes, which were then cut and sanded to make beads. No solder is used in the construction of the beads; they close to an ultra-fine seam through the process of pulling through the draw plate. When strung these necklaces have been called "liquid silver" or "heishe," but Delvan and Melissa prefer the term "hand-drawn silver," because heishe means shell (not any metal or stone), and liquid silver has mass-produced connotations.
Melissa's father Johnny Rosetta learned the art from his parents, and when he married Marlene Rosetta (who is Hopi) they also became part of the family team creating hand drawn jewelry. Before the family made their own cones and findings for their work, where their "Signature" initials are now found, they used the "signature" started by Ray Rosetta of counting down 13 beads from one side and inserting a hand-shaped bead of coral. Now that they can stamp their cones with their hallmark, the coral bead, which is still considered to be the signature of a Rosetta piece, can appear anywhere in the jewelry. Having a hallmark also freed the family to work in new directions, with a sprinkling of one or more various stones and shells (a style Melissa calls 'spotted') or creating a design with the silver beads and other materials. Johnny and Marlene also work extensively in gold, using the same draw plate method. Melissa's parents, grandparents, and also her younger brother Dillan have won a number of awards at the Santa Fe Indian Market.
Like their families before them, Melissa and Delvan use only natural materials for their jewelry, and it is entirely handmade. They are very proud of their family's artistry, and are determined to carry it on.