Napa artist Dennis Smith captures scenes of famous locales, such as San Francisco’s Chinatown, in an impressionistic but also realistic way. His work can be seen on display at Gallery 621 throughout March. (Painting by Dennis Smith)

Napa artist Dennis Smith is one of Gallery 621’s newer members, having joined in 2017. However, he has been painting for more than 30 years. Benicians hoping to become acquainted with Smith’s art can do so for his new show at Gallery 621, unofficially titled “Napa and Other Things,” where he is the featured artist.

Smith recently retired as an architect after nearly 50 years, having primarily practiced in San Francisco and operated his own firm Dennis R. Smith & Associates, Inc. He adopted painting as a hobby more than 30 years ago and got to focus more on his passion upon his retirement from architecture in 2015. As an artist, he enjoys the ability to express himself.

“I was an architect in my younger life,” he said. “As an architect, once every six months you get to express yourself a little bit with the development of projects, but not on a constant basis. What art provides is the opportunity to express, to be more creative.”

Smith moved to Napa in 2015 and often exhibits his work in downtown Napa. In 2016, he was selected as the Napa Valley Art Association’s Artist of the Year. His work mostly consists of oil and acrylic paintings as well as pastels that capture urban and rural landscapes and city scenes, often in Napa and San Francisco. Among the scenes he has captured are Columbus Avenue and Chinatown in San Francisco, the farm near Stanley Lane off Highway 29 in Napa, and various buildings and vineyards.

Smith said the images capture the feeling of “wandering the Bay Area.”

Having amassed more than 30 years’ worth of paintings, Smith was looking for places to exhibit and sell them. He came into Gallery 621 and was invited to join as a member.

“There’s a certain point when you decide that you’ve got too many, and you have a choice,” he said. “You either throw them away, give them away or sell them. I think my stuff is good enough now that people like it and it can be sold.”

“I’m still doing the art,” he added. “I don’t expect to sell it all the time, but the end product is not what’s important in art. It’s the process of doing it.”

Smith hopes the show will influence people to go visit the areas he painted.

“Creating images often inspires people to look for those locations,” he said.

“Napa and Other Things” is on display at Gallery 621, located at 309 First St., through March 31. The gallery’s hours are noon to 6 p.m., Thursday through Sunday.

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