She is best known for her large-scale public commissions Ebb Tide (1987) for the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre and Australia Felix (1992) for the Seville World Expo.
She went to Somerville House, a private school in Brisbane also attended by Margaret Olley, Betty Churcher and art historian Joan Kerr.
[1][9] While a young artist she also visited leading Australian modernist Ian Fairweather on Bribie Island, Queensland.
[citation needed] In 1983, Thomson's work Pentaplain was a finalist in the Art Gallery of New South Wales' Wynne Prize for landscape paintings.
Her major commission Australia Felix was the central sculptural installation for the Australian Pavilion at the 1992 World Expo in Seville.
It "confirms without doubt the stature of Ann Thomson within the canons of Australian abstract art as teacher, mentor and leader".