In the Studio with Madeleine Kemsley

Textile artist and illustrator Madeleine Kemsley joins me on Zoom from Australia. It is nighttime there, and the faint chirping of some nocturnal creature punctuates our conversation. “It's nice to be around so much nature. My work is a form of escapism, so the motifs are things that make me feel peaceful – flora and fauna, birds and fish, that kind of thing. There are so many amazing species here; it’s been really inspiring.”

These vibrant surroundings are an antidote to the lull in creativity that often lands at the tail-end of English winter. Madeleine is spending a few weeks in sun-coloured Australia before returning to her chosen home, Cornwall. Though the wildlife offerings of the southern British coast are modest in comparison to her current post, she is usually spoiled for inspiration. Beyond the rich community she has found with fellow creatives, Madeleine relishes the natural beauty of Cornwall, a place where “the sky feels bigger”. It’s a visual feast she purposefully captures in a simplistic, “naive” way.

“I love making up little motifs based on animals or people, rendered in minimal and imperfect shapes,” she says. “I think people like the simplicity of it because it feels quite accessible. There's nothing complicated about it, and you can sense the hands behind it.”

Perhaps this almost childlike approach can be traced back to her earliest experiences with making. Although she didn’t grow up surrounded by “many creative people,” the impulse was always there. She fashioned clothes for her toys from old textiles, eventually asking her mother to teach her to sew. “She wasn’t much of a sewer, but she showed me how to secure a button to fabric,” she laughs. “So I took a T-shirt and covered it entirely in buttons.”

Then, aged nine, Madeleine and her siblings were pulled out of school by their parents for a year-long backpacking trip. “I struggled quite a lot with reading and writing, and that's when I started realising that I wanted to do something creative,” she reflects. “Seeing the variety of folk art and craft from different places – South American textiles, beaded African dolls – had a big impact.” The adventure strengthened her affinity for art, carrying her through the remaining school years and culminating in an Illustration degree. “It felt like a natural path; a good way for me to communicate.”

After graduating, Madeleine began exploring textile art, guided by an instinct for shape and colour rather than an inherent technical skill. That came later, and now, she has forged a career around hand embroidery and textile design. For the TOAST Spring Summer 2026 collection, Madeleine has collaborated with us on two womenswear pieces: An organic cotton jacket decorated with appliqué pea shoots, and a linen shirt featuring whimsical motifs associated with al fresco dining, coming later in the season. Both pieces reflect the imagery explored across our seasonal concept, A Shared Table, which celebrates joyful gatherings around tables laden with food.

“It started out with loads of sketches,” says Madeleine, “playing with illustrations of vases with flowers, candles and whole foods – all the things you might find on an outdoor dining table.” At the time, she was living in a caravan on a farm near Falmouth, and her neighbour’s garden was dotted with large, fiery poppies. “I did drawings of those poppies, and they’ve actually made it onto the shirt.”

A flower, alive with expansive shape and colour, is a fitting visual for a theme inspired by the abundance of the coming season. Pea shoots adorning the jacket, developed from one of Madeleine’s earlier explorations, evoke the renewal and growth of spring. Likewise, the seafood and citrus embroidery on a light linen shirt recalls shared meals in bright daylight, set among lush plants thriving in the sun.

For Madeleine, working with TOAST opened previously untapped areas of exploration. “I enjoyed working to a slightly different theme, specifically focusing on food.” It’s a new yet complementary addition to her nature-inspired portfolio; one which she might journey further into as she enters an exploratory phase of her practice. “My 2026 resolution is to create more things for myself,” she says. “I'm trying to find the balance between doing a bit more experimentation and continuing to make things that I feel proud of.”

Above all, she wants to remember to slow down and tune into the tactility of her craft. Typically an impulsive maker, Madeleine found the TOAST design process refreshing in its call for patience and curiosity. “It was useful to actually plan things beforehand. Creating multiple sketches and providing samples of ideas, trying multiple versions of the same thing to find what worked.”

Madeleine is between studios at the moment, but having recently moved into a Cornish cottage with her partner, she’s been enjoying the portable nature of embroidery. “If it's cold, I can curl up by the wood burner and do it at home. And when the weather gets nicer, I can take it outside.” As the sun ripens a whole new pool of inspiration, perhaps she’ll find her work slowly shifting too – shaped by salt air, hedgerows, and the slow-paced rhythms of coastal life.