Sadie F McLellan (25 October 1914 - 7 February 2007) was a Scottish
stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
artist known for her work in
Robin Chapel
The Robin Chapel is an ecumenical Christian place of worship in the Craigmillar area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built in memory of Lieutenant Robin Tudsbery, who was killed in the closing days of World War II. The chapel sits within the gr ...
and
Glasgow Cathedral.
Biography
Born in
Milngavie, Scotland on 25 October 1914, she was the youngest child of Elizabeth McLellan, ''née'' Hannah and John McLellan.
McLellan was educated at
Bearsden Academy before going on to graduate from the
Glasgow School of Art
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and ...
with distinction.
In her third year she studied in the workshop of
Charles Baillie, an artist who worked with stained glass.
She was awarded the
John Keppie scholarship.
McLellan pioneered the use of a stained glass technique called "
Dalle de verre" in Scotland.
She used this technique in her work in
Pluscarden Abbey
Pluscarden Abbey is a Catholic Benedictine monastery in the glen of the Black Burn, southwest of Elgin, Moray, Scotland. It was founded in 1230 by Alexander II for the Valliscaulian Order.
In 1454, following a merger with the priory of Urqu ...
.
From 1971 McLellan and her husband worked in the Crawfordjohn, South Lanarkshire and in 1989 McLellan retired to live with her daughter in Canada.
Notable works
McLellan's work can be found in churches and buildings around Scotland including:
* Glasgow Cathedral
* Cambuslang Old Parish
* Netherlee,
Alloa
*''Te Deum Laudmus'' in
Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church, Glasgow
* Cardonald churches,
* Pluscarden Abbey,
* Ten windows
depicting scenes from
John Bunyan’s ''
Pilgrim’s Progress'' in the Robin Chapel of the Thistle Foundation
* Cardross Parish Church: Windows on the theme Recurrent Creation comprise four pairs of lights, illustrating the flow of creation through the seasons of the year.
* Pluscarden Abbey Marian window celebrates the Virgin Mary, and depicts the cosmic battle between good and evil.
Personal life
In 1940, McLellan married
Walter Pritchard, a fellow stained-glass artist and muralist. They had one daughter.
Her brother is
Robert McLellan
Robert McLellan OBE (1907–1985) was a Scottish renaissance dramatist, writer and poet and a leading figure in the twentieth century movement to recover Scotland’s distinctive theatrical traditions. He found popular success with plays and s ...
, Scottish dramatist.
In his book ''A Lap of Honour (1967)'', the author
Hugh MacDiarmid
Christopher Murray Grieve (11 August 1892 – 9 September 1978), best known by his pen name Hugh MacDiarmid (), was a Scottish poet, journalist, essayist and political figure. He is considered one of the principal forces behind the Scottish Rena ...
dedicated the poem ''The Terrible Crystal'' "To Sadie MacLellan (Mrs Walter Pritchard)". In this poem MacDiarmid praises "Clear thought" and "the open and unbiased mind".
External links
Crawfordjohn Heritage Venture
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLellan, Sadie
1914 births
2007 deaths
Stained glass artists and manufacturers
Scottish artists