During the 1980s Dave also started to paint canvases on autobiographical scenes. His father Samuel had died of cancer in 1978, and his mother Anne sank into depression and mental illness. Anne was a self-taught artist, and Dave kept all of her work. She finally died alone in London in 1983 and Dave, grieving, was clearly prompted by these events to create a series of large, striking paintings about the life of his parents, his memories, and life in London as a child.
