David Savinar left a decadeslong career in the world of advertising before moving to Gearhart. His move was his cue to devote himself to his lifelong love of painting.

He found the perfect spot to paint and display his art at the corner of Pacific Way and U.S. Highway 101. The former filling station was also an art studio and glass-blowing studio before it sat empty.

Savinar tracked down the owner of the Pacific Way property and volunteered to be a project manager to get the place in shape. He now shares the space with art consultant Janelle Baglien of Studio Art Direct, who represents artists and installations for hospitality and health care facilities.

Originally from Portland, Savinar first visited the North Coast as a child to see his grandparents at their Cannon Beach home.

He attended college at the University of Denver and received an art degree from the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California, before pursuing a career in advertising in New York City, Portland and Mexico City.

“I lived in New York for a long time,” Savinar said. “I lived on the Upper West Side. And then I moved to Mexico City with McCann and I headed up all of L’Oréal for Latin America.”

He worked as an art director before achieving his dream of becoming a creative director, in charge of marketing and advertising.

“I always wanted to be a creative director until I got to be a creative director,” he laughed.

Along with L’Oréal, his clients included Westin Hotels and Campbell’s Soup. In New York, he worked on the account for the jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels.

“It was the next generation after ‘Mad Men,’” he said, referring to the TV tribute to the Madison Avenue advertising world of the 1960s. “Parties, car service, incredible models — I was so into it. It was phenomenal.”

Savinar did live broadcasts, photo shoots and brushed elbows with celebrities.

In Portland, Savinar had his own advertising agency, Rain. However, he said he found the business had evolved to become more about chasing money instead of being creative. After partnering with another agency, he realized he no longer wanted to be in the advertising business.

Advertising is “not like it used to be,” he said, with the internet and different mediums.

“ … TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, I mean, who knows how people are learning about you?” Savinar said.

When living the corporate life, he maintained his love of painting by taking classes at the Art Students League of New York, an independent art school in Manhattan’s midtown.

It was the love of the ocean that brought him back to Gearhart 2 1/2 years ago. Savinar acknowledged there were times after he moved to the North Coast permanently that he “thought he was out of his mind.”

“The sound of the ocean literally keeps me alive,” he said. “When I drive from Portland back here, you smell the air and you hear the roar of that ocean? I’m like, ‘OK, I get it.’”

At the Pacific Way studio, he made upgrades to the building, including the roof, floors and electric.

Baglien comes in every day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Savinar uses it as a working studio and gallery.

As an artist, Savinar is “unlearning” the rules drummed in as a commercial illustrator.

“You get a rulebook written in your brain, especially when you have clients,” he said. “It’s been very interesting for me to go through this transition of trying to unleash all my rules.”

Many of his influences come from the artists and illustrators of The New Yorker, he said, citing Roz Chast, Jean-Jacques Sempé, Saul Steinberg and Peter Arno.

“He always did cocktail parties and scenes in the 1930s or ‘40s,” Savinar said of Arno.

The portraits of Richard Avedon also served as inspiration. “He’s a photographer. I’m very into portraits-slash-whimsical,” Savinar said.

He hopes that visitors will stop by the gallery, creating a hangout for residents and visitors.

“It’s sleepy, and I’m used to urban,” he said. “I can’t walk to the deli. Gearhart is crazy but I love it.”