Rachel Sklar

The thrill of a photo-realist painter is if you get really close to the painting, it looks just like a photograph. Whereas in my case, if you get close to my paintings, they totally fall apart - so I'm about as far from a photo-realist as it gets.

In a pine tree behind me, an eagle waits out the rain, hunched into himself, brooding. Crows squabble, a murder chasing a raven. Seals cruise the lines of fishing nets bobbing in the water, hoping for an easy meal, the tender bellies of salmon.

I shot a pilot for ABC, which I'm a bit confused about what the actual title is - I heard it was called 'Chosen.' It's directed by Roland Emmerich - the master of disaster himself - and it's his idea and concept for the show that's a supernatural thriller about good and evil set in contemporary modern day New York.