Her family came to Taiwan when she was three, and Wu spent an austere childhood growing up on an army base near Chungli.
她三歲隨父母來台，父親投身軍旅，一家人就在龍岡忠貞新村住下來，弟弟又相繼出世，薪餉僅夠糊口，那會有餘錢讓她拜師學畫呢？愛畫畫的吳志芬長大後，隻身北上念實踐家專。