Clayton Calvert was born and raised in New York City. He began his artistic pursuit under  the instruction of Tim Casey, while attending Bard Early College Program on the Lower East Side. He then continued pursuing his study of the arts at Syracuse University with painting instructor Kevin Larmon and with the guidance of Gary Radke. After a year at Syracuse, Clayton attended The George Washington University. While there, he studied in Rome for five months with Catherine Breda-Enis. He has also traveled around Europe numerous times taking in as many influences as possible. Places he has visited on his travels include: Barcelona, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Frankfurt, Florence, and other smaller locales. Clayton counts J.M.W. Turner, Vincent Van Gogh, El Greco, Mark Rothko, Gianlorenzo Bernini, Raphael, Caravaggio and Whistler among many others as his major influences. He is currently working in New York City.