David returned to his New England roots in 1980 settling on the South Shore of Boston in Marshfield Hills, Massachusetts.  He has won numerous awards and plaudits since then including his first honorary degree, a doctorate of humane letters, from Bay Path College in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.  His still life and trompe l’oeil paintings have appeared on nine Yankee Magazine covers including that of the fiftieth anniversary commemorative book “The Best of Yankee Magazine.” 

In 1986 David received his first real break, a solo show on Madison Avenue in New York City at Alexander Gallery.  This exhibition “David Brega, Trompe l’oeil: The Provocative Language of Illusion” sold out within minutes of its opening catapulting David into major private and corporate collections including that of Richard Manoogian, considered one of the world’s preeminent collectors of American Art.