Paddy Bouma was born in Cape Town in 1947. She studied at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, UCT, obtaining the degree BA (Fine Art) in 1967. She was awarded the McIver Scholarship by UCT for 1969 and studied Lithography at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, as a Bursary Student of the French Government (1968-69).

She has taught Lithography and Illustration at the Dept. of Fine Arts, University of Stellenbosch since 1971 and has exhibited on numerous occasions as a printmaker and illustrator.

She has written and/or illustrated a number of picture books that have been published internationally. Her illustrations for Are We Nearly There by Louis Baum (published by Bodley Head, London; 1986 and by William Morrow, New York as One More Time) were shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal, 1986.

Around 1997, she began writing alternative comics for adults. Her comics are autobiographical in content or address social issues. They have been published in the comix magazines Bitterkomix, Stripshow and Bitterjusi.

She is married to the architect Raymond Bouma. They live on a small farm in the Jonkershoek Valley, Stellenbosch.