The Art of Living http://jenniferludden.com Pieces of life from one of the lost generation posterous.com Thu, 01 Dec 2011 22:21:00 -0800 Nightmares http://jenniferludden.com/nightmares http://jenniferludden.com/nightmares

What are yours?

Dsc_0131

12"x12" Oil on Canvas

Untitled Nightmare series 2

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1461532/image.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AvFOPJo6JkB Jennifer Ludden The Art of Living Jennifer Ludden Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:13:00 -0800 Gender subversion http://jenniferludden.com/gender-subversion http://jenniferludden.com/gender-subversion

What is gender? What does it mean to be feminine? Masculine? Can someone be a man and also be feminine? What makes someone a man or a woman? What about transgendered people? What does it mean to identify as a femme transmasculine androgynous genderqueer? Do those labels matter? Are those terms contradictory?

I want to do some chalking on campus to ease the idea of a non-binary model of gender. I want to pose simple questions like, "What if gender is more complex than check one: M or F?". I want to be subversive. I want to mean something. Gender is so complex and the binary model of gender forces people to fit into either one box or another. What about people who exist outside of this system? What if someone's gender expression, gender identity, and physical sex don't all match? Why isn't there an option C?

How can we influence real, tangible change? I suggest a revolution in conscious.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1461532/image.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AvFOPJo6JkB Jennifer Ludden The Art of Living Jennifer Ludden Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:55:00 -0800 Suffering and Desire http://jenniferludden.com/suffering-and-desire http://jenniferludden.com/suffering-and-desire

Dsc_0135 Dsc_0127
See the full gallery on Posterous
How do we separate ourselves from our desires? Is it worthwhile to learn how to desire less? Should we stop chasing the truth and just live? How can we be truly free from our minds pressure? What's the cause of human suffering? Is it because we want infinitely? Does enlightenment require us to let go and just be?

Dsc_0130
Acrylic on canvas. 12x12in

"12 Sleeping Seconds Before the Destruction of Conscious"

Sometimes we have to destroy the coping mechanisms and constructs of our mind to get unstuck and find freedom and redemption from ourselves.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1461532/image.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AvFOPJo6JkB Jennifer Ludden The Art of Living Jennifer Ludden Sun, 06 Nov 2011 14:40:00 -0800 How to deal with probing questions http://jenniferludden.com/how-to-deal-with-probing-questions http://jenniferludden.com/how-to-deal-with-probing-questions

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1461532/image.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AvFOPJo6JkB Jennifer Ludden The Art of Living Jennifer Ludden Sun, 23 Oct 2011 17:52:00 -0700 Happiness is... http://jenniferludden.com/happiness-is http://jenniferludden.com/happiness-is

Blackjournal01-3
How do you define happiness? What does happiness mean to you? What makes you happy? Why? Is that happiness pervasive?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1461532/image.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AvFOPJo6JkB Jennifer Ludden The Art of Living Jennifer Ludden Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:57:00 -0700 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ http://jenniferludden.com/abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz http://jenniferludden.com/abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Blackjournal01-2

There's a light at the end of the path. Sometimes it's hard to push through. Sometimes the world seems exhausting. Sometimes I have to squint and I can barely see that light, barely remember that glimpse that I've seen before. I know that it's real, that it exists. That there is some sum of all of the truths of the world and the fragility and reality of the human experience. This truth, this morality, this idea, this thing that break free and yet encompasses all ambiguity and this thing, this thing is in a way spiritual or philisophical and it is not religious. Human experience might be an ambigious gray, but this is idea and the essense of color itself.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1461532/image.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AvFOPJo6JkB Jennifer Ludden The Art of Living Jennifer Ludden Sat, 08 Oct 2011 07:40:00 -0700 Stress http://jenniferludden.com/stress http://jenniferludden.com/stress

Blackjournal01

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1461532/image.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AvFOPJo6JkB Jennifer Ludden The Art of Living Jennifer Ludden Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:00:00 -0700 Choice http://jenniferludden.com/choice-85341 http://jenniferludden.com/choice-85341

P134 P132 P130 P128 P126
See the full gallery on Posterous

I've been thinking a lot about choice and everything that choice can mean, the ambiguity of choice and if I even like choice as a word. What's the first think that comes to mind to you, when you hear the word choice? How do you define it? Does it matter?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1461532/image.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AvFOPJo6JkB Jennifer Ludden The Art of Living Jennifer Ludden Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:28:38 -0700 Queer http://jenniferludden.com/queer http://jenniferludden.com/queer

P87

I've been thinking a lot about queer identity and what queer really means in terms of sexual and gender identity. So what does queer really mean? Is queer just an umbrella term for anything that vaguely fits or doesn't quite fit into LGBTQ(QIAA) -- lesbian, gay, bi or pansexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, and allies -- label?

How does being queer shape one's identity? And if the only (and very vague) label that fits is queer, which really only means different from society's norm -- then what on earth does that really even mean? Does it matter?

Signed,
Someone who identifies as queer all around.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1461532/image.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AvFOPJo6JkB Jennifer Ludden The Art of Living Jennifer Ludden Sat, 24 Sep 2011 13:58:00 -0700 Ambiguity http://jenniferludden.com/ambiguity http://jenniferludden.com/ambiguity

I sort of worked through a book called Things Might Go Terribly Horribly Wrong and near the beginning some of the exercises focused on Ambiguity. I definitely have a lot of trouble making decisions sometimes, and the longer the process, the more the ambiguity of the situation stresses me.

20110919-dsc_0010 20110919-dsc_0009
See the full gallery on Posterous

am·bi·gu·i·tyNoun/ˌambiˈgyo͞o-itē/

1. Uncertainty or inexactness of meaning in language.

2. A lack of decisiveness or commitment resulting from a failure to make a choice between alternatives.

Ambiguity, defined.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1461532/image.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AvFOPJo6JkB Jennifer Ludden The Art of Living Jennifer Ludden Fri, 23 Sep 2011 22:41:00 -0700 Jane. http://jenniferludden.com/72016081 http://jenniferludden.com/72016081

20110923-dsc_0009 20110923-dsc_0006 20110923-dsc_0007
See the full gallery on Posterous
It's 1:51 AM Saturday September 24th, and I have had an interesting first week of classes. At least I've started a new art project "Jane."
20110924-dsc_0030 20110924-dsc_0031 20110924-dsc_0032 20110924-dsc_0038 20110924-dsc_0036
See the full gallery on Posterous

Yes, that is a pregnant mannequin from an Old Navy dumpster. The post-it notes say "Jane's body", "Jane's mind", and "Jane's face. Essentially I'm anthropomorphizing my PC. Lovely?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1461532/image.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AvFOPJo6JkB Jennifer Ludden The Art of Living Jennifer Ludden Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:16:00 -0700 Why? http://jenniferludden.com/why http://jenniferludden.com/why

Dsc_0005 Dsc_0006 Dsc_0002 Dsc_0003
See the full gallery on Posterous
Dsc_0697

What does it mean to be a part of the lost generation?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1461532/image.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AvFOPJo6JkB Jennifer Ludden The Art of Living Jennifer Ludden Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:45:00 -0700 Existential http://jenniferludden.com/existential http://jenniferludden.com/existential

J_god_stuff

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1461532/image.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AvFOPJo6JkB Jennifer Ludden The Art of Living Jennifer Ludden Sun, 18 Sep 2011 13:59:00 -0700 Always Greener Grass http://jenniferludden.com/always-greener-grass http://jenniferludden.com/always-greener-grass

Dsc_0090 Dsc_0095 Dsc_0092 Dsc_0093
See the full gallery on Posterous
In the few days before school starts, I've been trying my best to both relax and prepare myself for a new season of school in a brand new city. Clifton has been nice so far and the weather has been lovely. In all of the rush of this upcoming quarter (classes begin this upcomming week!), I'm trying to maintain balance in my life. I can get a little anxious around new people, but I'm working on it and I've written a few guidelines to keep myself grounded.

  1. I am in control of my actions.
  2. I am aware of myself and my surroundings.
  3. I am willing to surrender.
  4. I can be vulnerable and strong.
  5. I can be both content and have room to grow.
  6. I am worthy of being known.
  7. I can accept that I control only me and not the universe.
  8. I am willing to accept that I don't have all the answers.
  9. I am willing to accept responsibility for my actions.
  10. I am willing to accept where and who I am.
  11. I exist outside of my environment (internally, spiritually, what-have-you).
  12. I am capable of healing, I have the ability to grow, and I have the power to influence change in my being and mental state. With patience, will, and an open and accepting mind, I can be a person who I want to be.

And, my ultimate goal this quarter is to find peace within myself. Have a fantastic evening, world.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1461532/image.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AvFOPJo6JkB Jennifer Ludden The Art of Living Jennifer Ludden Thu, 15 Sep 2011 22:55:00 -0700 Sketching in a park http://jenniferludden.com/sketching-in-a-park http://jenniferludden.com/sketching-in-a-park

Chris's pictures today. These were taken over the weekend in Eden Park. I think they are beautiful.

Img_3634 Img_3423 Img_3395 Img_3435
See the full gallery on Posterous

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1461532/image.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AvFOPJo6JkB Jennifer Ludden The Art of Living Jennifer Ludden Wed, 14 Sep 2011 06:41:00 -0700 New school, new changes, new beginnings http://jenniferludden.com/new-school-new-changes-new-beginnings http://jenniferludden.com/new-school-new-changes-new-beginnings

With school starting so soon (just about a week left), I've been busy trying to take the most of this little bit of time I have free. Pictures have been taken and sketches done. I'm even working on some paintings. There's a Torrit Gray competition by Gamblin that I'm trying to take a stab at.

For now:

Twin_lakes Dancer_on_912 Dsc_0556 Dsc_0633 Dsc_0555 Dsc_0634
See the full gallery on Posterous

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1461532/image.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AvFOPJo6JkB Jennifer Ludden The Art of Living Jennifer Ludden Tue, 13 Sep 2011 05:53:00 -0700 Grateful http://jenniferludden.com/grateful http://jenniferludden.com/grateful

The_only_way
It's no secret that I meditate and do yoga and consider myself "spiritual, but religious." I like to meditate and lots of different ways including yoga and breathing techniques, but the one thing that I find the easiest and that cheers me up the most after a particularly stressful day is what I call the grateful game. It starts a little like:

I want to try.
I'm trying to be grateful.
I can and am grateful

(think of a few examples)

I am grateful that I have the opportunity to study at a new place and all of the new people that I have met so far. The people I have met have all been very kind and friendly to me and I appreciate their actions. In turn, I want to try to be especially kind and helpful to someone today.

I am grateful that no matter how tough or hard life can get at times, I will always have my art to guide me. And if I don't have the willpower to draw or paint, perhaps there is enough inside of me to capture some moments and some memories with my camera.

I am grateful for my nontraditional education and upbringing. At times it was tough and at times I felt "weird" at school, and very, very different, but I have learned to love my outlook and my own personal growth and spiritual journey.

I can be grateful, let go of any angry emotions holding me back, and become more me.

Lots of love,
Jenny

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1461532/image.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AvFOPJo6JkB Jennifer Ludden The Art of Living Jennifer Ludden Tue, 30 Aug 2011 20:39:00 -0700 The Art of Living http://jenniferludden.com/the-art-of-living http://jenniferludden.com/the-art-of-living If I were to write a memoir, I'd want to name it "The Art of Living. I wouldn't want it to sound like preachy self-help monologue, but it would be about mindfulness in a way that truly took into account the creativity and beauty in living in each moment and how it translates into the course of our lives. It would be about my journey to discover what is meaningful to me. So, I guess here goes. It's a start.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1461532/image.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5AvFOPJo6JkB Jennifer Ludden The Art of Living Jennifer Ludden