I believe this painting of Thomas Hardy, poet and author, was commissioned by my mother’s step-father. He thought it would sell during a Thomas Hardy themed event, or festival, held at the Royal Hotel in Weymouth. In his retirement, he worked part-time at this hotel as their accountant. Thomas Hardy used to live in nearby Dorchester and his novels such as Far from the Madding Crowd and Tess of the d’Urbervilles often featured Weymouth and the surrounding “Wessex” countryside, mostly in the southern part of the county of Dorset.

Interestingly, in the painting Christine has included the county of Dorset’s coat of arms. The motto reads ‘Who’s Afear’d’.

I think the paint scrub technique and color palette used here really give the painting that older feel, appropriate as Hardy lived from 1840 to 1928. However, the effect is not as pronounced as in the miniature painting Christine did of the same subject, but at a younger age, and more matching in character to the Victorian time period.