Tony Barber (musician)

Anthony Arthur Barber, known as Tony Barber (born 3 December 1942, Norwich, Norfolk) is an English-born Australian public speaker and a diverse, innovative creator. Musician, singer, songwriter, author, plush toy designer, gift and craft tool product designer, paper sculptor, artist, teacher and mentor. He arrived in Australia in 1963.

Biography

He was a member of the hugely popular Australian band Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs in the 1960s and then as a solo artist. As a solo artist his biggest hit was "Someday" (Aust #13/1966). He wrote 35 children's books under the name A. A. Barber and Tony Barber and appeared on the children's television show The Music Shop as Tony the Toymaker.

In 2009, he theorized that if you were to re design the traditional A and H Frame easels to a stage where you removed all the visual and physical impediments and barriers that those easels place in front of an artist, not only would all artists feel better when they painted but their art would actually improve. He then proceeded to prove this theory to be true by inventing a totally new type of easel he called the ARTristic Easel. Artists that use it say it is a revolutionary and indispensable piece of artists equipment and is the most versatile easel in the history of art.

A popular fantasy character he created, named, designed the soft toy of and that appeared in many of his books, was taken and used to name the Australian baby Echidna.