Tarmo is not limited to a single technique. However, his main technique is lacemaking, and he does a variety of lace work. He also makes light art, installations, paintings, and sculptures. Though he doesn't have an art education.
He is not bound to financial gain with his art. He can create art with real freedom because he also has a day job as a teacher trainer, teaching crafts to future teachers.
Tarmo does not see any real sales opportunities. "I think that even in textile art, which has its own consumer base, the lace-making technique is such a strange bird that there is no real market for," Tarmo ponders.
His works are not shown in galleries. But he has participated and exhibited in a few museums. Tarmo comments that he is so unknown and therefore doesn't know how to market himself, which makes it difficult for him to, for example, get customers. "If for some reason a curator doesn't think that I would be suitable for an exhibition, I think the current situation wouldn't change" says Tarmo. In practice, sales are hardly the most important aspect of his artistic work, and it doesn't need to be. "I can happily focus on doing it completely on my own terms because it doesn't affect what I do, if someone might want it or not. That's a huge freedom in my artistic work."
Tarmo participates in events such as Konstrundan because of the surprising and rewarding encounters with visitors. His temporary studio is in the courtyard of the Rauma Museum, but this year his exhibition for Konstrundan is in his home.
The challenge for Tarmo's work right now is resources and not having a workspace that is big enough. Before having children, he's had various work spaces, for example in a garage, a church, a press hall in the city garden and so on. Many years ago, he worked in a church in St. Petersburg where he made a 4 x 11-meter rope piece using the same lace-making technique used to make traditional lace. The work took many years to make and the experience in the St. Petersburg church was a fascinating time for Tarmo. The piece is now public in Rauma.