>> The holiday gift season is officially here, which means we’re going to start seeing a little more emphasis on the latter half of “arts and crafts” around the city, when the search for the perfect present for Aunt Sallie ends with you standing in front of a pile of handmade tea kettle cozies. You might want to start with the high quality stuff, and get to the Washington Craft Show this weekend at the…

>> Start your Thursday night gallery hopping at Flashpoint, where they’re holding an opening reception for Shifting Waters, a collection of drawings by Janis Goodman, an associate professor of fine arts at the Corcoran. Her gestural markings create animated representations of water in its many natural forms. Ask yourself if the dark graphite Goodman uses accurately translates her subjects’ connection to life and nature, at the opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. >> It’s…

August is harvest time for the yearly crop of new art grads. Irvine Contemporary, Conner Contemporary, and Project 4 are each hosting shows featuring the ripest of the bunch, their walls, ceilings, and floors strewn with the efforts of these Bachelor and Master of Fine Art recipients. DCist couldn’t resist grabbing a basket of our own, so over the next few weeks we’ll be tracking down the Up and Comers, those we think are especially…