REVIEWS
Claudia Pearce - KPBS On Air Magazine,
November 1997
"After viewing the incredible, shimmering damask fiber art of Bill Rafnel, one would imagine the artist as a cool perfectionist, safely ensconced in his ivory tower. So it comes as a surprise to find out that the master weaver is a folksy retired Navy chaplain who stumbled into weaving in his early 40s. He was bit by the weaving bug, Rafnel says, when his wife told him about a backstrap loom class by Carol Martin at Bazaar del Mundo. It's been warps and woofs ever since. "I have no idea, so far as what got ahold of me," says the 66-year-old artist, "other than I really like the fine work of putting threads together and the interlacement. And there's some mathematical stuff in there which is fun too. And the perfection of everything when you're done. I don't believe weaving's just for women. It's for anyone."
San Diego Home/Gardens Lifestyle Magazine, April 1997
"Bill Rafnel's custom weavings make the most of fiber, color, the reflection of light and his favorite damask weave known as the "Cloth of Kings." Rafnel weaves with a palette of 120 colors in pearl cottons on an AVL loom with a computer interface that gives enormous design possibilities. Commission everything from table runners to large wall hangings. "
