While Bins and Rocky recover from their art show, I am fully occupied with an exhibition of my own, in Hartford, Connecticut. That’s where my sister Su lives. She knows how lazy and incompetent I am at exhibiting my work, so instead of giving me choices, she sends me a message: “Remember that great store we visited at the Farmington Valley Art Center (FVAC)? Well, they’ve opened up a gallery space inside the store. Lucky for you, I’ve signed you up to have a show. Starts in early October. Be there.”

There’s no time to panic! The priority is to get my stuff behind frames. My plan is to exhibit prints rather than paintings or drawings. I have 16 digital prints, 10 etchings, one lithograph and three photo-offset posters. With Muriel’s help, I spend a morning at Michaels, a fabulous store for all things Arty-Crafty and get a stash of float-frames at 50 per cent off. Another two days for putting all the prints behind the frames. Then my sister drives up from Hartford, bundles me into her car and we sail off.

Once in Hartford, I have two nights and one day before Show Time. The FVAC is a lively hub of creative activity that includes a regular art gallery and a large airy shop selling art, crafts and jewellery by local artists and craftspeople. The gallery in which my work will be displayed is a new initiative called the Fisher Front Space. It’s the special project of Elena Gibson, an artist herself and a powerhouse of bubbly enthusiasm. My sister puts aside her already towering pile of commitments to help set up the pictures. When she has to go away, her equally busy daughter comes in to take her place. Between the four of us, it takes from 10 in the morning till four in the afternoon.

And it’s still not quite done! On the day of the show, we go there in the morning to find that Elena has rearranged the wall with the etchings so that the pieces can “breathe” better. And they do! We all agree the whole space is looking splendid. It’s been so long since I had a show that I can barely recognise my own work, all displayed together in one place. Aside from the art, my sister has insisted that I must show four of my illustrated children’s books and the scarves that I’ve designed via a commercial outlet called Vida.

The show is due to start at 6pm. There’s another show opening at the main gallery too. Su and I get there at half past five. I’m wearing new shoes with sparkly heels to bolster my confidence. Our first guest arrives just as Elena brings in cheese, crackers and wine. The small space soon fills up. Su’s friends have come, plus a few resident artists and FVAC members. There’s that warm hum that rises up from many hands working towards a friendly, creative goal. Then at eight we shut shop and drive away into the cold, October night.

Manjula Padmanabhan, author and artist, writes of her life in the fictional town of Elsewhere, US, in this weekly column

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