Ted Stourton – Artist of the New Renaissance

by Kevin Hurst

If the pen is mightier than the sword and a picture paints a thousand words, what would happen if a painter used his brush to communicate images of hope and inspiration?

That was the question that one rising British artist asked himself while taking in the extraordinary beauty of a seascape one afternoon a few years ago.

Fast forward a few years of intense, purposeful artistic production: the Ted Stourton collection at Camelot Castle Hotel in Tintagel, Cornwall is one of the largest collections of an artist’s work anywhere in the world.

In the last fourteen months alone, over nineteen hundred and fifty original works and paintings by Stourton have found their way into collectors’ hands across the world as demand for his work grows apace.

Currently, a permanent exhibition of nearly 1000 original paintings by Stourton can be seen at Camelot Castle Hotel where the artist currently has his studios.

A small sample of his work can be seen online here.

Many visitors to Camelot have remarked on the extraordinary effects that Ted Stourton’s work has had on them.

Artists from around the world have made their way to Camelot to meet Stourton, share their ideas, and to tap into the extraordinary creative inspiration that is being generated there. 

Visit the Ted Stourton Fan Site here
“Art and creativity has in the past become exclusive and a pursuit of privilege." says John Mappin, Camelot owner and founder, "It is interesting that the root of “exclusive” is to exclude. Actually, art can be completely inclusive and available to all people. Art is food for the spirit of all people.”

For that reason, instead of turning Camelot Castle into an exclusive hotel for the rich, John Mappin, his wife Irina Mappin and co-owner, the artist Ted Stourton, have ensured that prices stay extremely competitive and it is possible to stay at Camelot for £39 pounds per night which is no more expensive than a local bed and breakfast.

“There is also a technical reason that it is vital to help art and artists in the society to flourish." Mr Mappin explains, "The wavelength of aesthetics and beauty happens to be that wavelength that most closely approximates the human spirit in native state. Many people have experienced what happens to them when they encounter beauty, be it in a visual, musical or purely conceptual form.

"Aesthetics have the ability to raise and help the spirit and in fact act as a disintegrator wave causing less desirable elements in life to vanish. There is a direct symbiotic relationship between the artists in the society and the society itself. Our very survival is in fact directly linked to the amount of beauty being produced at any one time across our world.

“Our artists are those beings that have the extraordinary responsibility of ensuring that beauty continues to be created across the world. Actually it is a tremendous responsibility and is not always easy in a world that appears at times to negate the efforts of the artist or their products.

“Our artists are the true architects of the future.

“To be an artist in the current environment takes an extraordinary amount of courage and integrity. We have found that when artists come to Camelot as “Artists in Residence” they get a boost of inspiration and connect up to a source of help and encouragement that is not always present in their lives."

Camelot Castle's aesthetic hand of help extends also to the artists of the future, as John Mappin further explains:

“Some of the most enjoyable successes that we have had is with kids from the inner city schools who come here and experience Camelot and the extraordinary natural beauty here for the first time. You can see a light go on inside of them and you just know that nothing will or can ever extinguish it.

“It is very easy to take the creativity of artists for granted. Our own view is that any effort in the direction of helping artists is repaid one thousand times over so we continue to help and welcome artists to stay as part of the Artists in Residence Program as often as we can.”

But, the beauty and imaginative scope of what John Mappin is trying to do does not stop there and the vision becomes truly global in scope:

“Camelot is the first in a chain of Hotels that we have planned in Mythological locations around the world. Each of those hotels will welcome artists in the same way and will continue the tradition of helping artists that has successfully begun at Camelot.”

Who qualifies as an artist for the program?

On this John, Irina and Ted agree: “As soon as someone says they are an artist, why, then they are one.  The decision to create is probably one of the most powerful decisions that a being ever makes and by validating that decision and giving it a window of space to be nurtured it is extraordinary what can occur.”



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