Proving that paint runs in the blood as well as on the canvas, three generations of one family will be exhibiting together in Ewell next week.

Eddie Askew, 79, his daughter Jenny Hawke, 51, and his grandaughter Jessamy Hawke, 15, will all be displaying artwork at Bourne Hall alongside paintings by family friends Maggie Godwin, Sarah Dulley and Sally Farrant.

This will be the third exhibition at the venue for Jenny, who has lived in Worcester Park for more than three decades.

"My friend Maggie and I challenged each other three years ago to see if, between us, we could fill Bourne Hall with our paintings," she says.

"And we did it. This year my challenge was not only to persuade Jessie to show some of her work but also to time the exhibition so that my father could join us."

Eddie Askew is a respected writer and artist who for many years worked as a missionary and art teacher in India.

He later became international director of The Leprosy Mission, for which he raised more than £1million with the publication of his illustrated meditations. In 2000, he was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Millennium Honours list.

Quite something for Jenny to live up to, especially given that she only took up painting herself eight years ago, with a few classes at the New Malden Centre.

It was memories of her early years and the bright colours, smells and sounds of West Bengal that inspired her to pick up her brush, says Jenny, who still misses India with "an ache in her heart".

Her father now lives in the calmer surroundings of rural Nottinghamshire and every time she and Jess visit, he gives them an impromptu quick art lesson in his home studio.

"He's incredibly encouraging," says Jenny. "When I was doing my first few paintings and thought they were crap, he would always pick out something positive to say.

"His main rule is to keep everything simple and not to fiddle. It's about having the courage to leave it as it is."

It's a lesson that has clearly passed down to the youngest member of this artistic dynasty. Alongside 30 of her mother's watercolours and 15 landscapes by her grandfather, Jessamy Hawke, of Holy Cross School in New Malden, has chosen a selection of her own paintings and photographs to exhibit.

She took some persuading, says her mum, but Jenny understands her daughter's shyness.

"Until now, I wasn't confident enough of my own art to exhibit with my dad. He still sells a painting every week and I was worried that my work wouldn't sell if it hung next to his. But he's going to be 80 this year and with that came my realisation that he is getting older. It's great to be doing this together."

Art Exhibition, Bourne Hall, Spring Street, Ewell, Monday, September 18 to Saturday, September 23, 9am to 10pm, except Friday till 8pm.

Call 020 8393 9571 or visit eddieaskew.co.uk. Special opening Monday night from 6-9pm.