We are ecstatic to announce that Sharon Knettell (the classic toy line box artist) will be joining us in person at JemCon 2023!

Sharon Knettell is a superstar to many Jem fans. As the artist who created the realistic character artwork featured on the original Hasbro doll packages, Sharon’s Jem portraits can only be described as “truly outrageous” and “iconic.”

The daughter of an advertising executive and a nurse, Sharon was born in Connecticut. In high school, Sharon studied art with Sanford Lowe, the founder and director of the New Britain Museum of Art. She has attended the Chaffee-Loomis School, majored in Fine Arts at the Boston Museum School, and has also studied in Rhode Island with artist Eugene Tonoff. Sharon is an exibiting artist who has won many awards for her work over the years. She has done editorial illustrations for magazine clients such as Playboy, Cosmopolitan, McCalls, and Ladies Home Journal. In addition, her realistic portraiture earned her work for top names like Warner Brothers, Orion Pictures, Pepsi Cola, and of course, Hasbro.

After a nationwide search to find an artist who could capture Jem's rocker vibe, Hasbro tapped Sharon to illustrate the the world of their new rock star doll. She had worked for Hasbro previously on My Little Pony. "I wanted to get the feel of a performing artist from the head to the turn of the toes- not just a pretty girl in a sparkly costume," says Sharon.* In fact, she was so intent on realizing the dolls as true performers in her artwork that Hasbro paid for her to dress and style her human models in custom made wigs and replicas of the dolls' stage costumes. "It was quite a production to do those packages... It was a lot of work to just get the right refrence for each figure."**

Though other artists contributed to Hasbro's Jem packaging (such as the fashion packs), it was Sharon's work that set the stage for everyone else to follow. Her work graces the boxes of all of the 1st and 2nd year dolls as well as the Rockin' Roadster. She also created artwork for the New Wave Waterbed which was not used on the released packaging. Though her time working on Jem was short, the job allowed Sharon to purchase a truly outrageous home! And as we all know, her illustrations are now touchstones of Jem, her friends, and her rivals. Sharon says of her Jem experience: "I really loved doing Jem- those zany costumes. Lady Gaga had not even been born. There were absolutely no role models. I am beginning to think Lady Gaga stole from us!" She just might have, Sharon!

Sharon has taught at the Rhode Island School of Design and continues to work as a fine artist painting from life. In addition, she has taken up championing the conservation of elephants.

Sharon is thrilled to be returning in person to JemCon and is looking forward to a “Rockin” good time with Jem fans.

And you can follow Sharon's musings on the art world, painting from life, and her own gorgeous creations at www.sharonknettell.com and on Instagram.

Says Sharon of her work: "The direct experience in painting from life is almost inexpressable. You are not painting an interpretation of a thin sheet of paper or a digital image but from an interaction with a real live human being. It is difficult, expensive and frustrating. The reward is something that may be light years beyond the original concept, something that takes flight in our imagination..."

* from an interview with Jem Tunes & Toons.

** from an interview with Makin' Mischief