Shue was born December 1952 in Jamaica, West Indies, of Cantonese Jamaican parents. At age 7 he began experimenting with colors from flower petals and executed his first deliberate painting. It was a painting of the Giant Green Dog, a legendary dog from the hills of St. Andrew. From that point, painting became an obsession. At the age of 17 Wong Shue began the study of charcoal drawing with private instruction from Alfred Chin of Canton, China. At age 16 he was the personal student of Alexander Cooper at Kingston College. In less than three decades, Wong Shue experienced the social and political changes of colonialism, independence and socialism. Isolation, as a child and teenager, produced a sensitivity to life, as expressed in his paintings. His earlier pen and ink drawings were realistic images of daily life and communicate the full scope of human emotion. Wong Shue was always encouraged to experiment towards self discovery and freedom, both in this art and in his life. He has always been an artist, a painter, and never questioned art being his life passion. After visiting the United States several times, Wong Shue moved to Los Angeles in 1980 where he found individual freedom. Later he attended Antioch University where he graduated with a B.A. in psychology.