This is a pastel drawing from 1986 on a sheet of T. H. Saunders 190gsm watercolour paper (56 x 76 cm.). It was exhibited in 'The Cutting Edge' exhibition at Bolton Museum & Art Gallery (that subsequently toured to Wolverhampton and Lincoln) and is in a private collection. Tarn Hows is a small tarn (mountain lake or pool) not far from Hawkshead, the centre for Grizedale Forest and its arts project. Paul undertook a short residency there in 1981 and the resulting works were made and exhibited in the forest for some years (the extract below from A Sense Of Place - Sculpture in Landscape, Ceolfrith Press No. 73, 1984 shows them in situ). In his commentary Paul talks of revisiting Grizedale over successive autumns following his residency with students from Loughborough College of Art where he taught on the BA (Hons) programme. The drawing above is the fruit of one such expedition.
In A Sense Of Place Paul remarks "It is difficult to assess what changes [in his practice] are due to Grizedale Forest. I have visited it each autumn for several days with students, discovering new sculptures and different parts of the Forest. Re-orientating past and current perceptions each visit. The sharply contrasting pace of life and environs leaves an endless series of images and spaces."
