For the Italian painter David Pallua, to become an artist was to courageously refute the expectations of others in order to fulfill a personal dream. Not surprisingly, Pallua values integrity and authenticity as the most important aspect of his artwork. For him, this means to always remain true to his artistic voice. He is drawn to a variety of motifs from portraiture to fantastical, symbolic landscapes. Whatever subject matter he chooses, he carefully considers how to personalize it so as to make it unmistakably his. Pallua prefers to use acrylic paint on canvas. Recently, he has discovered how to combine realistic and abstract techniques in a way that contributes to the unique character of his work. The painting Dreaming, for example, represents a combination of realism and abstraction in the rendering of a female portrait. Pallua also carefully selects objects that act as personal symbols but are also open to the viewer’s interpretation. The feather in Dreaming might represent the dream itself, or it might have another, more personal meaning