Sadie McLellan (1914 – 2007)

Biography: Born in Milngavie, Sadie McLellan studied at Glasgow School of Art, where, in 1933, in her third year she entered the workshop of Charles Baillie designer of the famous Glasgow restaurant Rogano, and a prolific artist in stained glass. She was awarded the John Keppie scholarship and travelled to Scandinavia, spending a year at the Royal Academy of Art in Copenhagen.
She taught for a time at Glasgow School of Art, and early commissions include two windows in Glasgow Cathedral and ten windows for the Robin Chapel for the Thistle Foundation at Craigmillar.

After an inspiring visit to France in 1958 she was influenced by Corbusier and Leger and produced six panels, one of which (Pieta) is held by the National Museum of Scotland. Experiments in a new architectural style, called dalles de verre, where slabs of glass are set into a matrix of concrete, propelled her to the forefront of Scottish design. An early example of this can be seen in Alloa Parish Church (1960) and she went on to design for the Abbey of Pluscarden, near Elgin and the Church of the Sacred Heart at Cumbernauld.