Meg Padgham studied at East Sydney Technical College and the Meldrum School. She worked as a textile designer in Sydney before coming to Canberra in 1943 to paint Wallace Anderson's scale model of Jordan in World War I for the Australian War Memorial. After moving to Melbourne, she studied portrait painting under Sir William Dargie, and later exhibited works in the Archibald and Portia Geach competitions. After suffering a stroke, she taught herself to paint with her left hand.