Jools Teare is an artist who paints icons for the overlooked.

Her work celebrates people who society has historically marginalised, misunderstood, or refused to see as beautiful. Through bold colour, stillness, and deliberate reverence, she creates modern devotional portraits — paintings that invite the viewer not just to look, but to venerate.

Drawing on the visual language of religious iconography, Jools elevates her subjects to a place of honour and contemplation. These are not portraits made for spectacle or shock, but for recognition. Each figure is painted as worthy of attention, dignity, and quiet awe.

Her work asks a simple but radical question:
Who do we choose to sanctify — and who have we ignored?

In making saints of those traditionally sidelined, Jools reframes beauty, power, and adoration through a contemporary lens. These paintings are acts of devotion — to identity, authenticity, and the courage it takes to exist visibly in a world that prefers conformity.

“WHAT MY WORK IS ABOUT”

I am interested in who we choose to celebrate — and who we quietly pass over.

My paintings are an intentional act of slowing down. They ask the viewer to pause, to look longer, and to reconsider their assumptions about beauty, value, and who we hold up for adoration.

I paint people as I believe they deserve to be seen:
with dignity, softness, strength, and reverence.

This work is for those who have been told they are too much, too strange, too visible — and for anyone willing to look again.