SU BISHOP – XANDOLLA GLASS ART
Su Bishop is a glass artist and jewellery maker After a career in textiles and fashion, Su relocated to Exmouth in the remote northwest of Australia. One day, she read an article in a beading magazine about flame-worked glass bead making, and next to the article was an advertisement for a glass bead making starter kit…
Su is a self-taught by necessity, as she lived more than 1000km from other artists. She read articles and tutorials, watched on-line videos
and learned to work with glass. She developed her own style and techniques, so her work stands apart from others.
Su’s jewellery is both classical and modern, with her individual flair, classic lines, and uncompromising quality. She uses coloured opaque and transparent glasses, glasses with metallic lustres, and reactive glasses. She makes free form blown hollow beads and applies her own hand made murrini, stringers and shards for colour and texture. She mixes different coloured glasses, looking for unusual colours or reactions. Su’s glass plays with light, colour and form. Su’s work was heavily influenced by the colours and forms of the wonderful Ningaloo
Reef and North West Cape, where the Australian desert meets the Indian Ocean. The marine blues, sage greens and desert reds feature in many of her pieces. Su is now living close to the coast in the Clarence Valley of northern NSW, where she continues to explore glass to make gorgeous jewellery and quirky sculptures. She uses bold colours,\ asymmetry, repetition and texture to make work that is individual, recognisable and collectable. She often collaborates with her woodworking husband Alan to combine glass with wood. Her work is sought after in Australia and overseas. Kirra Gallery in Melbourne has taken Su’s work to the Chicago SOFA exhibition, where USA based collectors acquired her pieces. Her work is currently exhibited in galleries in the Clarence Valley and Coffs region.

Exhibitions
2025 ‘No Boundaries’ Dorrigo Rainforest Centre, Dorrigo, NSW
2024 Member’s Exhibitions, The Art Space, Urunga, NSW
2018 ‘Festival of Glass’, Drysdale, Victoria.
2017 ‘Dancing with the Flame’ – National Glass Art Gallery, Wagga Wagga, NSW
2017 ‘Flame On’ – Kirra Gallery, Melbourne, Vic
2017 ‘’Clarence River Women of Art’ – Yamba Museum,
Yamba, NSW
2016 ‘Flame On’ – Kirra Gallery, Melbourne, Vic
2015 ‘Flame On’ – Kirra Gallery, Melbourne, Vic
2013 ‘A Jewellery A-Fair’ – Old Bakery on Eighth St
Gallery, Perth
2010 ‘A Touch of Glass’ – Old Bakery on Eighth St,
Perth
Publications
Beads Etc Magazine, May 2008 – feature article and
front cover photograph.
Su has been a frequent contributor to The Flow
Magazine and Soda Lime Times Magazine