North York girl's 'advanced' abstract paintings on display this month at Richview Library

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Nicole Dina Naddak-Ivanov could barely crawl at 15-months-old when she painted her first abstract watercolour.

"At first, she ate it," her mom, Marina, laughs as she recalls her daughter's introduction to the honey-based watercolour.

Brush in hand, painting soon became the toddler's passion, following a Russian tradition, Naddak says, of exposing children to painting in daycare.

Circus, a bright, fantastical array of yellow, orange, pink, blue and green in acrylic on a 30-inch by 40-inch canvas was Nicole's first work. She was four.

Another 43 acrylic abstracts followed, the largest, Blue Bird, at 36 by 48-inches.

This month, 12 of the precocious seven-year-old's paintings are on exhibit in the sunlight-bathed gallery on the second floor of Richview Library in the Islington and Eglinton avenues area of central Etobicoke.

"It's amazing, People are just taken aback by the fact the child is so small, but her abstract work is so, so advanced, and very mature," says Miro Sikura, a Richview librarian who coordinates the library's art exhibits.

Nicole is one of dozens of artists whose work is exhibited for one-month showings at 10 Toronto Public Library locations across the city. Art is chosen for exhibition by a committee, then assigned a library gallery.

"The library is a community space. And some of our galleries are quite large and beautiful," Edward Karek, Toronto Public Library spokesperson, says of the program. "Other gallery space in the city is at a premium."

Indeed. Naddak says she couldn't convince any Toronto galleries to display her only child's works.

Nicole's favourite in the exhibit? Pillow Fight. She squirted the paint tubes onto the canvas to achieve its bright splashes of colour. "It sure is a bit messy," she laughs.

The depth of Nicole's work clearly belies her years. Layers of colour. Shadowing. Various techniques. One piece took her five months to complete.

Blue Bird is her mom's favourite.

An old German story of the Blue Bird, and a children's movie by the same name, inspired the painting, which is in Naddak's private collection.

Oranges, yellows, pinks and reds had previously captured the child artist's imagination.

But now, blue is it. "I like blue!"

The expressive little girl with the soulful brown eyes isn't the first painter to experience a blue period. Pablo Picasso originated the monochromatic form a century ago.

Nicole paints abstracts of ice cream, sharks, sunflowers, a moose, cake, even happiness. Her self-portrait is her in her mother's womb.

Sometimes, she paints from an idea. Other paintings are inspired by colours.

She signs her work with her initials: "NDNI."

"At first, I didn't believe it," Naddak says of her daughter's talent. "Until people read about her, they don't believe it's the artwork of a child. They think it's mine. When I tell them it's my child's, they're very surprised. It's incredible, really."

These days, Nicole prefers realism in her art, a product of her Friday art classes where she is the youngest student. Classes help to fire her imagination, she says.

"When I paint, colours and shapes are dancing in my head somehow. I'm very happy when I paint."

The Grade 1 student at Owen Public School in the Bayview Avenue and York Mills Road area of North York is no stranger to art shows and exhibitions.

A Toronto Starbucks coffee shop exhibited her art earlier this year, as did the Queen West Art Crawl. Some of her paintings will be donated to the upcoming Russian Gala Ball.

She even has a website (www.nicolenaddak.com). Her work has sold mainly in Canada, the U.S. and Russia.

Last year, she painted three pieces, all with an African theme, and donated them to the Nelson Mandela Foundation auction.

She can be prolific, painting eight pieces in one month, or indulge a child's whimsy. She loves ballet, gymnastics and especially, swimming. Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and Shrek are her favourite movies, second only to The Wizard of Oz.

Writing is her new creative canvas. It might also be a future career.

"First, I'm going to be a lawyer. Then, I'm going to stop being a lawyer and write a famous story. I don't want to be an artist when I grow up because artists don't make a lot of money."

But first, she wants a puppy for Christmas. But no ordinary puppy, a circus puppy, like the trained poodles she saw at the Russian circus.