Jim Laugelli is a mixed media collage artist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After moving around the country for many years, he finally settled in Fairhope, Alabama. Laugelli is a self-taught artist whose work is guided by an intuitive approach. He uses a variety of material including vintage papers, old books, magazine ads, tissue paper and other found ephemera, as well as his own painted papers which are then cut, glued, and layered on a substrate. Acrylic, watercolor crayons, ink, and pencil all become the ingredients that help make the final image. Vibrant colors and layered collage elements dominate the work. In a collection Laugelli calls his "Human Bird Series," he takes images from fashion magazines and replaces human heads with those of birds. The resulting image is whimsical and unexpected. "I cannot imagine a life without art,” says Laugelli. “Creating, playing, thinking, and letting the muses speak are as vital to me as the air I breathe. It provides me sustenance and enriches life."