Tina Matthews

Christina "Tina" Matthews (born 1961) is a New Zealand author/illustrator and a puppetmaker who was born in Wellington and works in Sydney Australia. She also played bass guitar in bands such as The Wide-Mouthed Frogs and The Crocodiles.

In 1979, Tina Matthews (born 1961 in Wellington, New Zealand) joined an all-girl group, The Wide Mouthed Frogs in Wellington, playing bass guitar. Fellow members were Jenny Morris on lead vocals, Katie Brockie on vocals, Andrea Gilkison on guitar, Bronwyn Murray on keyboards and Sally Zwartz on drums. In 1979 they released the track, "Some Day" for the compilation album, Home Grown Volume One and turned down the support act for a Split Enz tour. In 1980 they played the high-profile Sweetwaters Music Festival after which The Wide Mouthed Frogs disbanded. Morris and Matthews then joined The Crocodiles.

The Crocodiles regularly performed in Auckland. In January 1980 they played Sweetwaters Music Festival and in April that year released their debut album Tears which, along with its lead single "Tears" reached No. 17 on the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand charts. In 1980 The Crocodiles won 'Best Group' and 'Most Promising Group' at the New Zealand Music Awards.

Matthews began her puppet making career in 1979, working on Summer City, a community arts project run by Graeme Nesbitt for the QE II Arts Council in New Zealand. In 1982 Matthews moved to Sydney where she worked with master puppet makers Ross Hill, Beverley Campbell-Jackson and Peter Chester and director Richard Bradshaw at the Marionette Theatre of Australia. During the 1980s Matthews honed her skills by working on the Jim Henson movie Labyrinth, starring David Bowie. She later worked with designer Garth Frost to fabricate the puppets for Australian ABC television programme The Ferals and produced puppets for the ABC's Bananas in Pyjamas and The Upside Down Show with The Umbilical Brothers.

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