
Jeanine Colini
Category: Artist/Individual
Discipline: Visual arts
Program Affiliations: Open Studio Tours Artist

Jeanine Colini is a Tucson-based artist and graphic designer. Her award-winning work has been exhibited internationally. Jeanine's “A to Zoo” animal alphabet, created in 1981 in art school, recently celebrated its 40th birthday. The critters have appeared in the movie “Three Men And A Baby” and television series “Dynasty.” Through her work with the Los Angeles Zoo Foundation, Jeanine has gifted original artwork to Jimmy and Gloria Stewart.
Other type-inspired works include “Art of the State” USA map where topography emerges from typography and “A to Z Cactus” featuring cactus of the Sonoran Desert. Upon moving to Tucson in 2018 Jeanine was inspired by the beauty of the Sonoran Desert and expanded her Naturescapes watercolor collection to include its unique flora and fauna. Her artwork has been licensed by HomeGoods and sells on American Apparel’s web site. She sells her art locally and nationally (jcda.com) and takes commissions.
Jeanine Colini Design Art was established in 1985. Jeanine taught graphic design and typography at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA and Woodbury University in Burbank, CA. She earned her BFA from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY in 1981.

For my senior illustration project at Pratt I designed and illustrated an alphabet where each character is a different animal. The design process involved coaxing animal shapes into letterform shapes in such a way that both creature and character appear natural and comfortable. The final artwork is titled “A to Zoo” and is rendered in watercolor and ink. It was created in 1981 and the critters recently celebrated their 40th birthday!

This large watercolor painting was inspired by photographs taken by my friend Ayden in the fishpond garden at Saint Philip’s In The Hills. The commission was requested by Ann who loves the color palette used in my Treescape paintings but she wanted a different subject matter. As a fellow member of Saint Philip’s, the fishpond was the perfect subject.
