During these years he was heavily involved in New Zealand arts activity, and became friends with other artists such as Allen Curnow, Denis Glover, Rita Angus, and Alistair Campbell.
Angus | Rita Hayworth | Hurricane Rita | Rita Coolidge | Rita | Angus cattle | Rita Dove | Rita Moreno | Earl of Angus | Santa Rita Mountains | Santa Rita | Rita Ackermann | Educating Rita | Rita Steblin | Rita Marley | Rita Lee | Angus King | Rita Süssmuth | Rita Rudner | Rita Pavone | Rita of Cascia | Rita MacNeil | Rita Chiarelli | Charlie Angus | Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus | Angus Young | Angus Sampson | Angus McMillan | Angus MacDonald, 8th of Dunnyveg | Angus Deayton |
Othertimes, James's work speaks to its situation within the context of New Zealand painting, using a palette, scale and modernist aesthetic reminiscent of other New Zealand painters (such as Rita Angus, Nigel Brown and Michael Smither).