My name is Teodoro Vecchione and I am an illustrator from Southern California. I have been drawing ever since I could negotiate the whole pen and paper thing, around 3 or 4 years of age. I went to University to study studio arts, where I received a lovely little degree. My artistic process is centered on achieving a state of mind where I can lose my mind to my hand. The "Manus" wins. As strange as that may sound, we have all had experiences where we lose our body to some sort of outside effect (live music, a delicious dish, sex). I am in love with wild line and untamed rendering of shapes. I let my pen travel at whim to define a form that surfaces in the mind state of no mind. I am very partial to aquatic life and I believe that is a result of my merman tendencies. My head is an aquarium of "Aquaticons" that swim about, striving to create an interesting interplay of positive and negative space that just might cause an observer to appreciate their little dance. This is what they live for. And don't worry, they get their flakes! Prior artists that have inspired me along the way include: Paul Klee, Joan Miro, Saul Steinberg, Max Ernst, R.Crumb, Gary Taxali, Gary Baseman, Man Rey, Jean Michel Basquiat, Da Vinci, Heironymous Bosch, Willem Dekooning, Marcel Duchamp and Mr. Andy Warhola. They all have made me feel empowered and sometimes inferior, but I thank them and love them as humans as well as artists.