When 10-month-old Katerina Lavictoire decides to pick up a paintbrush for the first time, her mother would be well advised to save that first painting — there’s a good possibility the little girl could be a famous artist one day.

Artistic talent tends to run in the family, after all. As the daughter of emerging Ottawa artist Gina Mertikas and the namesake and granddaughter of well-loved and celebrated painter Katerina Mertikas, baby Katerina could make for a third generation of artists.

Sunday will mark Gina’s first Mother’s Day with her daughter. And she will also use the occasion to toast her own mom’s strong influence in her life.

“My mother’s art is completely different than mine,” reflects Gina. “But I really think that her career has paved the way for my own success.”

Inspired by the birth of her sister’s son, Gina began painting in 2005. Her first piece featured a truck for her nephew’s bedroom wall. Her sister loved it, as did both women’s friends.

Soon, specific requests began to pour in for Gina’s cheerful children’s art — and her repertoire grew to include princess dresses, flowers, jungles and space scenes.

“I do a lot of personalized art for kids,” says Gina, 28, who displays her acrylic creations at the Ottawa Greek Festival every summer and sells selected works at Sleepy Hollow. “I always like to see what will brighten up a little child’s room.”

Now drawing inspiration from her own daughter — and with her second child due to arrive this summer — Gina says she would love to stay at home and paint while her children are young.

“It’s not yet my full-time job,” says Gina, who works for the minister’s office of Foreign Affairs. “But the community has taken a great liking to my work. I’m beginning to have a small fan following.”

In fact, she just launched a new site, peekabookidsart.com, to further market her artistic work for children. For those seeking contemporary pieces, Gina also creates abstract acrylic art (ginamertikas.com) that starts at about $250.

“I really enjoy creating abstract pieces for people’s homes,” she says. “I like to go in and see the space and visualize what would work best.”

Gina’s eye for colour and design must be somewhat innate, considering her mother, Katerina, has been painting since before Gina was born. “In my earliest memories of my mom, she always had paint all over her hands,” recalls Gina.

Katerina admits to rushing between school plays and other activities for Gina and her sister, Loukia, in order to get back to her passion.

“If I’m not painting, I’m just itching,” says Katerina. Though she was passionate about art since her childhood, she didn’t pursue art seriously until she was 33 years old.

“I would paint at home after I came back from work, with no encouragement from anyone,” says Katerina, who worked as a medical secretary for the University of Ottawa Heart Institute for three years. “When I look back at my diaries from those years, I would constantly write, ‘I will be an artist, I will be an artist.’ ”

It was actually Dr. Wilbert Keon — the renowned heart surgeon who founded the institute — who stopped her one day after catching her making some colour adjustments to a painting already hanging on the wall.

“He said, ‘Katerina, what are you doing here? Go home and fulfil your passion,’ ” she says. “But it was a big chance to take — to leave my job and pursue art.”

Fortunately, she did take the leap — and she hasn’t looked back. Her success was immediate and impressive; her first art show, held in Montreal in 1991, sold a stunning 80 paintings. Katerina attributes her success to the style of her work.

“Mine is not a fad-ish type of art,” she explains. “I think 80 per cent of people can relate to it because it’s mostly about memories.

“I’m really well-known for my winter pieces — images of skiing or the street full of children playing and having fun.”

Born in Greece, Katerina is a self-taught artist who immigrated to Canada in 1960. She describes the style of her work as “naïve impressionism.” Through her art (katerinamertikas.com), she aims to convey to the world a message of love, peace, innocence and friendship.

“I try to capture the special, happy moments in our daily lives on every canvas I paint,” says Katerina, who is known for her bright, vivid colours.

If Ottawa residents feel that Katerina’s work seems familiar, it may be because it is prominently displayed at the various campuses of the Ottawa Hospital, including the neo-natal ward at the Civic and the General as well as the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

Katerina’s work has been selected by UNICEF and the Canadian Lung Association for cards, stamps and calendars to help raise funds.

While she has been selling her work with Koyman Galleries in Ottawa for nearly 20 years, she also exhibits and sells her pieces in other major galleries across the country.

“I love and respect children and I can’t stand to see them sick or suffering,” says Katerina, who donates to 10 causes per year, including the annual Snowflake Ball in support of the CHEO Foundation.

Last year, a family donated 17 pieces of Katerina’s art to CHEO following the passing of a family member. “My work seems to lend itself to places that need happy, cheerful art to lift one’s spirits.”