Skewed North by Jolene Dames: Atlas

The Boy Behind the Glass

Jolene Dames — Sun, 17 May 2026 13:01:54 GMT

We were living in a three-bedroom trailer. I was 13 or 14—I can’t remember. The walls were brown paneling, the kind where you start to see faces if you stare too long. We had shag carpeting in three …

Taos, New Mexico — Slammed Frames from the High Desert

Jolene Dames — Sun, 10 May 2026 15:21:01 GMT

A raw Taos, New Mexico photo essay capturing desert light, adobe textures, and fleeting moments through a cinematic lens by artist Jolene Dames.A raw Taos, New Mexico photo essay capturing desert light, adobe textures, and fleeting moments through a cinematic lens by artist Jolene Dames.

Taos, New Mexico Photo Album

Jolene Dames — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:03:10 GMT

Here is a photo album of my favorite photographs from the first road trip to Taos, New Mexico.

There’s something about a road that winds in the distance that makes you wonder what lies beyond it.

The Mileage Is Mine

Jolene Dames — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 19:58:24 GMT

If you have ever had a conversation with me, you know I love a good metaphor.

When I started writing, I was trying to define what it was… poetry, literature, short stories, essays? In the recesses of my mind, I have always wanted to write lyrics for music. Having no real background in writing, it’s hard to find your way. Also, who am I to be a writer anyway?

If you asked my late husband, he described me as a writer disguised as a painter. Hehehe… look how tricky I am. The truth is, I have been writing longer than I have been painting. The truth is, I have volumes of written words. The truth is, I have secretly been writing and submitting work for many years.

I just don’t talk about it.

People know me as a painter. An artist. And those are two of my many loves. What they don’t know is that when I sit down to write, it is literally like I am a musician at the keys. Things just flow from me. And I allow it.

Of course, not everything I write is good. It’s also not all bad. But how would you know unless I shared it?

So… I’m sharing it.

I want to invite you into this part of my work.

On a canvas, I show you how I see the world.

These lyrical essays, built on metaphor, are how I move through it—the moving images my mind creates as I go.

I don’t know about you, but I get lost in moments. Visual ones.

I’m usually in it before I understand it.

Something stands out.
Something feels slightly off.
Something lingers longer than it should.

And I stay with it.

A sunset.
A pebble.
A person.

And then—somewhere in that— something shifts.

Not because it was explained. Because I noticed it.

Not to understand it— but to see what reveals itself when you stop trying to.

Here’s one of those moments.

Recalculating, Please Hold

Jolene Dames — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 22:19:29 GMT

Last week, I told you about the version of me who came to Oregon because she couldn’t hold her own life.

This is what I couldn’t see while I was there, and some of the other behind-the-scenes of what…

When Nothing Feels Real Anymore

Jolene Dames — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 14:50:35 GMT

When you learn how to fake anything, it’s hard to believe anything.

And I wasn’t exaggerating when I said that.

The other thing is that when you create illusions for a living, it becomes really hard t…

The World is Heavy, Here's Some Comic Relief, Jolene Style

Jolene Dames — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 03:10:02 GMT

Hey, guess what? I feel like I forgot how funny I was. Until I did a few quirky things this week that reminded me.

Colorado: Chaos, Cookies & Creative Sparks

Jolene Dames — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 20:44:44 GMT

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF INSPIRATION: A series of funny, strange, and unexpectedly meaningful moments from a life lived off course.

Yucatán: Sunsets, Sunglasses & the Stories We Rewrite

Jolene Dames — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 20:40:00 GMT

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF INSPIRATION: A series of funny, strange, and unexpectedly meaningful moments from a life lived off course.

New Zealand: Glaciers, Gut Feelings & Goodbyes

Jolene Dames — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 20:35:46 GMT

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF INSPIRATION: A series of funny, strange, and unexpectedly meaningful moments from a life lived off course.

Episode 6: When Love Feels Like Knowing

Jolene Dames — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 02:35:18 GMT

This is the final chapter of Cosmic Interference.

And the hardest one to explain.

Because what I’m talking about here— isn’t just love. It’s something quieter. Something deeper. Something that doesn’t …

Episode 5: Episode 5: The Not-Quite Honeymoon

Jolene Dames — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 02:27:27 GMT

In this chapter of Cosmic Interference, I’m telling the story of our honeymoon.

Except— it wasn’t really a honeymoon. It wasn’t planned.
It wasn’t polished. And it definitely didn’t go the way I though…

Episode 4: Happily Ever Uh-Oh

Jolene Dames — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 02:15:17 GMT

I was never supposed to get married. That wasn’t a phase. That was a decision.

And then I met Patrick.

In this episode of Cosmic Interference, I’m telling the story of how someone who had fully opted o…

Episode 3: Me, in THAT Bed

Jolene Dames — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 02:08:59 GMT

In this third episode of Cosmic Interference, I’m going back to a moment that didn’t look like much at the time—but changed everything.

It started with a photograph.

A bed.

A place I had never been—but …

Episode 2: The Road to Hawaii

Jolene Dames — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 01:50:26 GMT

In this episode of Cosmic Interference, I’m telling the story of the drive that changed everything. Not all at once. Not dramatically.

But in that quiet, unmistakable way where something shifts—and yo…

Cosmic Interference: The Story I Told in Pieces

Jolene Dames — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:53:08 GMT

I made something for you.

Before I knew what Recalculating was, I was already recording it.

I didn’t sit down and say, “I’m going to make a series.”

I just started telling the story.

What Happens When You Stop Moving

Jolene Dames — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 22:52:48 GMT

What Happens When You Stop Moving

I’ve been off work for about a week and a half now. We were snowed in from the Snowmageddon of 2026.

I was supposed to leave town—drive through Buffalo, head up to Sar…

Rooted, Restless

Jolene Dames — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 14:31:11 GMT

I’ve been in Pittsburgh for fourteen months.

And everything in me wants to leave.

Me in Pittsburgh…Still…

The last time I stayed in one place that long, I was in my twenties and broke. And honestly, I’m not sure that even slowed me down then. I remember fifty bucks, a good friend, and a last-minute drive to Chicago like it was nothing. Movement has always been my default.

Which is why what I want right now — badly — is to get out of town.

So of course, life has asked me to stay still.

That tension doesn’t come naturally to me. But it’s familiar. These last several months have carried the texture I know well: commitment layered on top of longing. Work while it’s there. Say yes to the gig. Do the job. Finish the show. Get out of town. Rinse and repeat. For years, that’s been the rhythm: work, make money, travel, make art.

This is the tension I know best—being committed to the life I’ve built, and pulled by the life that’s still calling me.

Lately, though, the pattern has shifted.

Circling Back to Nomadic Novelties

Jolene Dames — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 14:46:32 GMT

Back in March, I shared the very first peek at Nomadic Novelties — my long-running obsession with found objects, wanderlust, assemblage, and the strange poetry of things the world leaves behind. If y…

The French Castle Photo Montage

Jolene Dames — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 12:30:40 GMT