How lucky are we to have had Tony Cribb part of our Cuppacoffeecup New Zealand artist team since 2013. What a ride it has been!
Tony Cribb resides in the wonderful Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand with his lovely wife, two children, a cat and a dog. Tony has been displaying his work since 2001, which is when Tin Man was born. Tony created Tin Man as a one-off work of art by using wood and mixed media. Since his inception, Tin Man has been world famous in his own adventurous and quirky Tin Man world.
“[Tin Man] has contemplated life in all its complexities, been attacked by the BEER MONSTER and swapped his head for a goldfish. Tin Man has proven to be much more than a rustic orange character. He has become a friend to many – an observer of social commentary and a metaphor for exploring life with all its good, bad & wobbly bits.” (www.tonycribb.co.nz)
Tony had the typical New Zealand childhood that children of the 80’s had. He lived in his stubbies and drank home made fizzy made from a SodaStream machine. Tony would argue that although he is now older with children of his own, not much has changed, except his drinking habits, which now have matured to cups of tea and the occasional coffee.
Tony enjoys going for runs and bike riding, seeing this as his way of helping to save the planet by lowering his own carbon footprint. Tony is a great fit for Cuppacoffeecup, as his art encourages many of his loyal followers to reuse and recycle instead of having their coffee fix in a disposable takeaway cup. Who doesn’t want to be seen with a Tony Cribb piece of art in their hand while sipping away on their daily coffee or two.
As a child, Tony was inspired by the cinematic creations of Tim Burton and all the surreal personalities that Jim Henson created into crazy onscreen characters. His own art, with the use of mainly oils and acrylics, takes on their own imaginative characters borne from his own quirky and dark sense of humour.
Tony sees his art as ultimately encouraging and that which inspires hope. We hope that he will continue to inspire us all for many years to come, continuing to share some of these for our Cuppacoffeecups.
We enjoy the “The Wonderful Weird of Cribb”.