The crowd paintings were followed by a series of small group paintings, picking up the themes of predation, celebration, beauty, ugliness and sexual power. These were directly influenced by Sienese paintings, which I studied intensely on various visits to Italy, attracted by their primitive qualities, strong narrative and directness. The paintings I produced at this time were deliberately small, and drew upon devices such as predellas and rotundas which I appropriated during my visits to museums and churches in Italy.

As the paintings evolved, many of the themes emerging in the pencil drawings created close to this time became evident and the characters became like inflatable, multi-limbed, india rubber people playing their part in a stage set.