Terry began his notable career as an artist, and as a teacher, by winning the State Matriculation Prize for art in 1966. His subsequent prizes and accolades are too numerous to mention.

Besides being president of the Art Society of Tasmania, he has held executive positions in the contemporary Art Society of Australia and in various State and National Teaching bodies.

Terry's paintings show how he revels in the subtle and ever-changing Tasmanian light, the layered landscape, in which sky and sea seem almost interchangeable, and where clouds appear to remodel the contours of the land. These images vary between the impressionist and the abstract as Terry seeks to depict the diversity of the landscape.