Meet Sydney Lumbreras Clifton: Visual Artist and Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sydney Lumbreras Clifton and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sydney, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?
I think the habit that has helped me grow in my work as an artist is consistently practicing my craft. The other day I was looking through my drawings to pick some for a market and I saw how much growth had happened in the last few years. That growth and the discoveries I’ve made are due to the sheer amount of drawings that I have produced. 

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My art style is something that definitely took a while. In college I came in with some good rendering training but didn’t really know what I wanted to create besides the fact that I was interested in portraiture and figure. During college I grew to love figure and portraiture even more as I trained but I also loved patterns. Drawing repetitive elements made me feel so calm but people inspired and intrigued me as subjects. But I couldn’t figure out how to bring them together. While studying abroad in Italy I discovers Byzantine icons and they helped me figure out how to start making my own combinations of figure and pattern. Now in the 10 years since college, I have continued to push and develop my style. I think this combination of pattern and figure is what makes my work unique.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If a best friend came to visit Athens, I would definitely take them to the botanical gardens first! It is so beautiful, I even got married there! Then I think for an amazing meal we would go to Tlaloc one of our maxing Mexican restaurants that serves delicious pupusas too. I think after that maybe we would walk around downtown Athens and North Campus and just enjoy the beautiful scenery and maybe finish the day at Creature Comforts one of our local breweries.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The people I would like to shout out are my family and my art teachers and professors. My family had no connection to art when I was young and fell in love with it. They supported me every day, and helped me get into places where I could learn how to be a better artist. My first art teacher Matthew Newton told me I had the mind of an artist and I just needed to help my hand catch up. He trained me to understand the history of art and taught me the craft pf drawing what you see. My college professors at UGA, especially Stephanie Jackson and Jeffrey Whittle, encouraged me to grow and find my own style as they helped me sharpen my skills.

Website: sydneylclifton.squarespace.com
Instagram: luisaluminosa
Other: RedBubble: luisaluminosa