Ep 78: Tom Carment

Tom Carment has been painting and writing for over 45 years but it was in his mid twenties that he decided his work would be created solely from life. Changing light and weather conditions, sitter fatigue and repeated packing of materials became daily concerns.

His work crosses landscape, portraiture and still life and if you visited the Art Gallery of NSW in 2019 for the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes you may have noticed that there was a Carment work shortlisted in every prize – a rare accomplishment for any artist.

The winner of numerous art prizes including the Gallipoli, Mosman and NSW Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize, Tom has been shortlisted in the Archibald 11 times and hung in the Salon des Refusés over 20 times. He has had over 25 solo shows and his work is held in public and private institutions in Australia and overseas.

He’s also an acclaimed writer and his most recent book – ‘Womerah Lane: Lives and Landscapes’ – is a memorable collection of stories over the time he has lived in Sydney’s inner city suburb of Darlinghurst including pictures of many of his paintings.

His solo show opens at King Street Gallery at the end of October 2019 and when I visited him at his Womerah Lane terrace he was in the process of framing dozens of oil paintings with beautiful Tasmanian blackwood.

In this podcast episode you will hear how he started out, his time in Lavender Bay in the 70s living next door to Brett Whiteley, how he only started painting still life at 60, as well as portraiture, landscape, process and more. Just click ‘play’ under the feature photo.

Scroll down to see a short video of Tom Carment talking with Maria Stoljar in his studio.

Upcoming

Solo show King Street Gallery, Sydney, 29 October to 23 November 2019
Book launch of ‘Womerah Lane: Lives and Landscapes’, King Street Gallery, Sydney, 9 November 2019