Sixth Grade
Worksheets
Tom Thomson: Canada's First Great Expressionist
Do you like a good mystery? Perhaps the strange circumstances involving the death of one of Canada's premiere painters will pique your interest.
Tommy Thomson was born in Claremont, Ontario, on August 5, 1877, but was raised further north outside Owen Sound. His parent's home, Rose Hill, was outside of the small town of Leith. Thomson grew up under the influence of Georgian Bay landscapes and weather that would influence him so strongly later on.
As a young man, Thomson had no idea what he wanted to do to earn his living. He tried enlisting in 1899 to fight in the Boer war but was turned down. A friend of the family had a machine shop. Thomson tried to apprentice there as a machinist. That did not last long.
Thomson tried attending business school. That didn't work either. Perhaps he needed to get away from everything he had known. In 1901 he was in Seattle, Washington, where he had joined his older brother at another business school. It was there that Thomson discovered his flair for design and lettering.
