Oscar Romp, Denmans Artist-in-Residence 2024/25: Further Journals after a hiatus
Figurative artist Oscar Romp is Denmans Garden’s current Artist-in-Residence. He began working at Denmans Garden at the end 2023. Although his work continued through Autumn of 2024 there followed a hiatus while Oscar was called to other work.
This month’s blog is his third and, in a series of journal-like entries, picks up where he left off with some lovely insights as he rediscovers the Garden again in early 2025. The next four months lead up to Oscar’s end of residency exhibition which will be free to view in the Pavilion at Midpines Café through August and September.
Blog Notes For Autumn 2024
29/08/2024
There is never a straight horizon line at Denmans Garden. The skyline, if you can call it a line at all, is a constantly changing jigsaw puzzle where shapes and spiky shafts of sky dip into vision on a lateral as much as on a horizontal plane. The pastel work I made on this day illustrates the feeling well. The sky reaches across the top, but also appears at the centre of the picture through the doorway of the walled garden. Having sold most of my square format landscapes of the North and South Downs, it seemed a nice idea to make some more in the Denmans setting. On this day there was usual bike ride up to the site, and a snoop around the gardens until a subject grabbed me. And then, the usual ‘cat and mouse game with the weather. A light rain shower towards evening forced a temporary evacuation, as I shove my pastel-laden paper upside-down, under the nearby blue bench to shield it from the water (instant killer of unfixed, chalky pastel layers). But most of the day was bright, directional sunshine, which picked out the huge variety of shape and texture among the shrubs, plants and foliage. The parked bike, with red pannier, perched against the brick work doorway, points the way through.
03/09/2024
‘All In A Day’s Work’! Awoke yesterday morning to sunshine after more grey days of wind and rain. I grabbed my art clobber and cycled to Denmans Garden. I chose the same brickwork doorway to the walled garden, this time from the other side, with the meadow at my back. Once again everything was heightened by bright sunshine, which slowly moved round as I worked through the day. Worked 2hrs flat-out from 11.20 to 1.20, – selecting and bashing-in the main shapes and forms, of my chosen composition, and getting down the idea of where the sunlight was coming from in my picture, – and where the shadows fall, (before the sun moves round and everything changes). Changing light makes natures work deadline when painting/drawing onsite, outside. Broke for a BLT ‘n ‘ Tea lunch at the Cafe. Resumed work at 2.20. Overheard the gardeners’ chat, as they worked on shrubs round the corner. Could hear the usual Robin mooching for scraps. Some working-up of colour intensity, and differentiation between vegetation types. Sometimes hitting the paper hard to get a stronger mark. Deepening of shadows and contrast. Attention to rounded leafage, then spiky shoots. Spray-fix the chalk underdrawing. (Makes a new toothy surface that holds several more layers of chalk ‘n’ pigment). Out comes the ‘Imperial Guard’ Reserve Army to finish the attack, in the form of buttery soft Senelier pastels. The lightest touch makes glowing sunlit high-lit leaves shine! The final deadline of the first silvery raindrops blow-in. Rain stops play, but it’s Ok, I Made It! I won the game of cat ‘n’ mouse race with The Elements. I hastily pack up as the storm deepens, glancing at the watch, it says 4.35 already. Where did the day go? I cycle satisfied through the drizzle back to Bognor.
Additional retrospective note, written 28/03/2025 –
- A Family Day At Denmans on (09/08/2024)
I made x 3 of these square-shaped ‘garden-scapes’ over late Summer and Autumn 2024. Two of them explore views through the walled garden doorway, from different sides, at different times of day, both made on sunny but changeable days. But the first one was made onsite, sitting outside at the cafe tables during a family day out. Distracted, – but also inspired by the lovely holiday vibe on that sunny, but gusty August afternoon. I had brought along a wind-up, running, toy rat to amuse the kids, – which also enthralled Betty, the resident Denmans dog. I tried to catch the gusty wind as well as the high contrast sunny conditions. And the grown-ups sipping their coffee, at the cafe tables. I added the background figures later, including the kids playing, and the dog. It’s still not finished; but getting there.
Family Day At Denmans (09/08/2024)
‘Bright View Under A Long Bow’. I remember this was a short session because I’d come to Denmans for a meeting with Gwendolyn, I think. Time was short that day and there was a chilly wind. Mostly overcast, and threatening rain, but spells of sunshine. I was taken with how a yellowish shrub caught the light and glowed, even without direct sunshine, and was framed by a long-reaching, shady brow. I used very hard-grade pastel for this. Very different from the usual soft pastel, you have to scrub really hard at the paper to get a mark at all! Rather like a 9H pencil. But if you stick at it with a bit of elbow grease, they make these lovely grainy tines and surfaces, which sparkle against a bright white paper ground.
Apple Harvest with Green Hands July 2024-March 2025/ongoing (retrospective note).
The only work so far that has been entirely studio-produced, without any on-location work or prep drawings. I began with a
crude outline based on Gwendolyn’s photo of ripened crab-apple and branches forming a tunnel through which the clock Tower and sky can be seen. The picture ground to a halt after a tentative flat layer of oil paint blocking-in the shape of the sky through the leaves. As often happens, it lost momentum for lack of a strong idea. It’s pointless to merely make an enlarged but inferior painted copy of a good photograph. Then September happened and a bumper crop of eating apples on my mother’s apple trees. We picked them. And I photographed my hands picking the apples. Then the hands grasped into my painting; – the crab-apples enlarged into eating apples and got picked by the hands. 
Apple tree leaves and branches thickened. I couldn’t be bothered with getting any more paints out at this point, because the picture grew slowly like a plant. I went into the studio and nibbled away at it, when I had the chance; often broken time, and snatched half-hours because there was too much else going on in Real Life. I’m working on green-primed wood panel with a hard textured surface. It can hold charcoal for dark and chalk for light tones when you scrub at it hard; very different from paper. Later I plan to fix the chalk and charcoal and rework areas in paint; sometimes maybe just semi-transparent glazes. But it might go in another direction. We will see.
Blog Notes For Winter/Spring 2025
15.02.2025
‘Winter Sun Chilly Stay-cation’ Am back in UK and back on it with my Denmans Artist Residency. Work and family priorities took me abroad for x 3 months. Now I’m back, picking up the trail from where I left off. One of those crystal-clear cold, spiky days with intermittent but redemptive sunshine taking the ‘edge’ off the day. I love such weather. So much better than the endless days of dark clouds, wind, rain and muggy 2-digit temperatures that characterise UK winters of recent years, and which cause mould spores to thrive and fester. There was so much moisture in the air, – and saturated ground water at home in Bognor, that the shed and garage doors suck it up and refuse to close. Even the front door got sticky. Give me minus 2 and a sharp frost any day. A good frost clears and dries the air, – kills off the bugs and mosquitos. Come back mini-ice age. All is forgiven!
16/02/2025
‘Denmans Ponds-cape’ The Rite Of Spring begins with no green. But I still managed to get eaten alive by midges, even on this cold, cold February day. An occupational risk when sitting, drawing next to a pond. I got drawn in to the way the twisting tree trunk and chaotic branch-growth get reflected with clarity in the surface of the pond. (late afternoon on 10/02/2025).
03/03/2025
Monday 3rd March. Gardeners Delight – pruning at Denmans Gardens in afternoon sunshine. Drawn live on location at Denmans Gardens on Tuesday 4th March.
After days and weeks of being submerged in admin, correspondence, and trying to organise my life like a proper ‘grown-up’, I was going bonkers! Engagement with real, physical and creative tasks like dancing and drawing (and clearing garden refuse) renew my balance and sanity. It works better than golf. Tell it to Trump!
03/03/2025
Still Monday March 3rd. Late Afternoon into Early Evening. Drawn live on location at Denmans Garden. All my focus was on catching the liquid-gold evening sun before it disappeared. It got dark before I had time to add my bike which was leant against a tree. I’m often clearing away and packing-up the bike panniers in the gloom of dusk, and I realised I’d left that essential tool, my headlamp, which I use habitually for drawing in dark dance clubs, cycling, and also for reading in bed at night… I draw live on site, but I also take a lot of on-site snaps as memory joggers for later, or tweaking or finishing works in the studio, that were began in a field. I added the bike later, aided by these iPhone snaps. The bike finds a way of getting into many of these pictures, and why not? It’s always with me when I work at Denmans.
For more information on Oscar go to https://www.oscarromp.co.uk/
@oscarromp
Oscar’s end of residency Denmans Exhibition will open in August 2025. Further details will be posted on our events page in due course: https://www.denmans.org/events/
