Welcome to Skewed North
For 25 years I’ve been paid to paint things that don’t exist.
Cities that were never built.
Marble that’s actually wood.
Worlds designed to make audiences feel something.
That’s my job as a scenic artist—creating environments convincing enough to fool the camera.
Movie magic.
But painting illusion for a living teaches you something strange about reality.
After twenty-five years of designing cinematic environments, I started noticing something unexpected: the spaces we inhabit shape our perception just as much as the ones we build for the camera.
And life, it turns out, doesn’t follow the script.
Maps burn.
Plans collapse.
Compasses spin.
And sometimes the journey only really begins after the map is gone.
If you’ve ever had the map burn in your hands too… you’re in the right place.
Hi, I’m Jolene.
Artist, set designer, and professional navigator of the beautifully lost.
My life has taken me across film sets and through dozens of countries—into love, loss, reinvention, and more than a few moments where the road disappeared entirely.
Somehow, inspiration kept showing up anyway.
This publication is the story of following it.
Somewhere in the chaos, I learned a simple truth:
The most interesting lives rarely follow straight lines.
They run a little… skewed.
What is Skewed North?
Skewed North is my field journal from a life lived under the influence of inspiration.
Here you’ll find stories from:
🎬 25 years behind the scenes of movies (50 productions later)
🌍 Chasing inspiration around the world (38 countries and all 50 states)
💔 Navigating love, loss, and reinvention (widowed at 40 and wildling ever since)
🎨 Building a creative life from the detours (my particular specialty)
Some stories look back at the eras that shaped my life.
Others unfold in real time as I continue following inspiration wherever it leads.
Together they circle the same question I keep coming back to:
What do you do when there’s no path at all… but something inside you keeps pointing the way?
Skewed North is for you if…
• You love behind-the-scenes stories from the film world
• You believe the best lives happen off script
• You’ve taken a few unexpected detours yourself
• You’re curious about creativity, inspiration, and rebuilding after loss
• You enjoy stories that are honest, a little wild, and occasionally touched by cosmic interference
Think of me as your slightly unhinged tour guide.
I don’t always follow road signs.
But I do follow inspiration and intuition.
What Paid Subscribers Get:
Most of my writing is free.
But the deeper stories—the ones about grief, reinvention, art, and the strange ways inspiration reshapes a life—live behind the subscriber wall.
Paid subscribers receive:
• full access to every story
• deeper essays and memoir pieces
• behind-the-scenes art and creative process
• occasional surprises from the road
In other words: you get the whole ride.
My Other Creative Work
If you wander outside the Substack, you’ll find the rest of my creative universe.
🎨 Made by Dames- My online shop, home to my paintings, photography, and artifacts.
🎬 Film & Television- For over twenty-five years, I’ve worked as a scenic artist painting environments for some of Hollywood’s most iconic productions.
🧭 Skewed North Studio- My philosophy and consulting work exploring where aesthetics and awareness meet to help people realign their spaces, stories, and lives.
Why Subscribe?
Because the best stories start when the map disappears.
Skewed North is what happens when you stop waiting for inspiration and start following it—even when the compass is spinning.
So if you’re ready for a few detours, a little chaos, and the occasional moment of clarity…
Hop in.
We ride at dawn.