Clay Calvert was born and raised in New York City. He began painting under  the instruction of Tim Casey, while attending Bard High School Early College on the Lower East Side. He studied art at Syracuse University with painting instructor Kevin Larmon and under the guidance of Gary Radke. After Syracuse, Clay attended The George Washington University. He also studied in Rome for six months with Catherine Breda-Enis. He has traveled around Europe numerous times taking in as many influences as possible. Places he has visited on his travels include: Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo, Dublin,  Paris, London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Frankfurt, Florence. Clay counts J.M.W. Turner, Vincent Van Gogh, El Greco, Mark Rothko, Gianlorenzo Bernini, Raphael, Caravaggio, Vermeer, and Michelangelo among many others as his major influences. He lives and works in New York City and Southampton, NY and his works can be found in numerous private collections.  He shows at The Mark Humphrey Gallery in Southampton, NY.