She studied weaving, ceramics and painting in Vienna and Düsseldorf, under Professor Richard Langer. In Warsaw, she took master classes with Professor Zofia Gołąb. During the war, she was deported to a gulag in Soviet Russia, released after the announcement of an amnesty, and found herself in Tehran. She arrived in Canada in 1944. She took up a job with the Canadian Red Cross, and in time returned to art, focusing on ceramics and arts and crafts. 'The Gazette' posted an account of a visit to the artist's studio, where she worked on jewellery and objects forged in silver and copper. Thau exhibited her metal-forged wares at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto in 1948, 1950 and 1956. At the CNE in 1948, her decorative metal plate won second prize, and in 1950 her ceramics were awarded. At the 1961 CNE, Thau's work won second prize. The artist was a member of the Polish Arts and Crafts Club of Montreal (Polish Decorative Club) and the Canadian Guild of Potters. She participated in the presentation of Guild of Potters wares at the Royal Ontario Museum and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, in 1961. In the same year, Hermina Thau had a solo exhibition at the Potter's Club in Montreal and participated in a group exhibition in Washington, DC.

The work in the catalogue
Andrzej Wolodkowicz's publication Polish Contribution to Arts and Sciences in Canada contains photographs of two plates forged in metal and decorated with a pattern - one has a pattern of maple leaves, the other a pattern of grape clusters. The plate with the grape pattern won second prize at the Canadian National Exhibition in 1948.