Carla Gates
Carla is a Southern Highlands–based artist working predominantly with oil and charcoal in combination across a range of surfaces. Her practice explores the landscapes of her local environment, from expansive, brooding vistas to intimate studies of frost-covered leaves, rendered with intricate detail. She is one of the Artists of the Round Yard, a collective of local Southern Highlands artists who exhibit their work together twice yearly at Retford Park in Bowral (property of the late James Fairfax).
Her work is both painterly and tactile, balancing expressive mark-making with careful observation. Through a nuanced use of light, Carla seeks to evoke atmosphere and emotion, capturing fleeting seasonal moments and the quiet complexity of the natural world.
Grounded in landscape yet guided by a sense of whimsy, her practice moves between the monumental and the minute, inviting viewers to pause, look closely, and reconnect with the subtle beauty of their surroundings.
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Prizes
2026 - Finalist in the Bundanoon Portrait Prize
2025 - Highly Commended in the 'Angels of our town’ Art Prize, Centennial Winery
2025 - Commended prize in the Agency Still Life Prize, Bowral District Art Gallery
2025 - Finalist in the Waterbrook Drawing Prize, Bowral District Art Gallery
2016 - Finalist in the ColourTrap Gallery, Avalon
2015 - Finalist in the Lloyd Rees Memorial Art Prize
2014 - Finalist in the Blackheath Art Society Prize
2013 - Finalist in the Lloyd Rees Memorial Art Prize
2012 - Finalist in the Tony & Guy Art Prize, Sydney
2011 - Finalist in the Lloyd Rees Memorial Art Prize
2009 - First Prize in the North Sydney Youth Art Prize.
Group
June 2026 - August 2026 “The World of Fungi”, Group exhibition at Water Through The Reeds Gallery, Bungendore, NSW.
May 2026 - July 2026 “The Pop Up Project 2026”, Group exhibition at Centennial Winery, Bowral, NSW.
Jan 2017 – Feb 2017 “Spectrum 1” The Glen Street Theatre Project, The Art and Soul Collective
Dec 2016 – Jan 2017 “Concept 4” The Glen Street Theatre Project, The Art and Soul Collective
Nov 2016 – Dec 2016 “Concept 3” The Glen Street Theatre Project, The Art and Soul Collective
2016 - “Thirty by Thirty” at The ColourTrap Gallery, Avalon
2015 - Grand Opening of 'Keisan, The Menzies Hotel, Sydney
2013 - Bowral District Art Society Gallery, Bowral
2012 - Warringah Printmakers Studio, Warringah
2010 - "Art along the boardwalk" in Lavender Bay
2010 - TAP Gallery Darlinghurst
2009 - TAP Gallery Darlinghurst
2009 - "Art along the boardwalk" in Lavender Bay
2008 - GIG Gallery, Glebe
2008 - Workshop Arts Centre, Willoughby
Solo exhibitions
2014/2015 – “Remembering Giverny” Headland Gallery, Mosman
2012/2013 – “Transient Impressions” Headland Gallery, Mosman
Publications
2010 - Mosman daily