Padam was born James Morley Wiseman in 1935 to Lena and Michael Wiseman. He is the eldest of four children: Mildred, William and Margaret. He grew up on a farm four miles South of a small town called Unity in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada. King, Morley's horse, delivered him 4 miles to the Queenston country school and back everyday and later to the Unity High School. From an early age, Wiseman showed an extraordinary talent for drawing, which was fostered by his teacher at Queenston Country School - Helen Barr, a graduate of the Ontario College of Art. Supplies were extremely scarce, limiting him to one sheet of drawing paper per day for his lesson. At the end of each year, Mrs. Barr returned all the drawings he submitted over the year.