Tom was born in Innisfail, North Queensland. As a youth he studied under Arthur Evan Read and Andrew Sibley. He has travelled much of the Australian Outback in search of subject material. He works in most mediums including oils, acrylics and gouache and is well-known for his pen and wash studies of bush and stockyard characters. Tom has had many successful exhibitions over the last 20 years in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Toowoomba, Cairns and Darwin. He has won numerous art awards including Warana Brisbane(1969), Peter Stuyvesant Award (1970), Redcliffe Art Prize (1970, Telegraph Art Prize (1971), Caltex Award Toowoomba (1973) and the Heritage Art Award conducted by the Queensland Historical Society. His work is well represented in private and public collections in Australia and overseas. In 1990 he completed a series of paintings of Australians in sport commissioned by the then Prime Minister of Australia, Bob Hawke.
