Why Cardinals?

The story behind Cardinals Beyond the Veil

There are some images that seem to carry more meaning than they should, and for many people, a cardinal is one of them. You can be walking through the yard, looking out a window, sitting quietly with a cup of coffee, or simply going about an ordinary day when suddenly that flash of red appears. For a moment, you stop. Maybe it reminds you of someone. Maybe it brings back a memory you weren't expecting, or maybe you simply find yourself watching a little longer than usual.

That feeling is where Cardinals Beyond the Veil began.

When I first started working on the idea, I knew I didn't want to create a collection of random cardinal illustrations. I wanted the pages to feel connected, almost as though you were moving through a story without needing words to tell it. I imagined quiet gardens and old windows, hidden paths and familiar places, keepsakes tucked away and small details that might seem ordinary at first but begin to mean something as the journey continues.

The cardinals move through those places almost like visitors. Sometimes they're simply part of the scene, while other times their presence feels a little more significant. They might be watching from a branch, appearing outside a window, or turning up somewhere that makes you wonder whether their arrival is really a coincidence.

That was the feeling I wanted to capture—not necessarily sadness or even loss, but something gentler. I wanted to explore the way memories have a habit of finding us, often when we aren't looking for them.

What Does a Cardinal Mean?

Cardinals have become deeply associated with remembrance and the comforting idea that someone we have lost may still be near. Some people experience that connection spiritually. Others see the cardinal as a symbol that simply reminds them of someone they love. For others, the sight of one may bring back memories of a particular person, place, or moment.

I think that's part of what makes the cardinal such a beautiful symbol: I don't have to tell you what it means.

You get to decide.

A cardinal might remind you of a parent or grandparent, a friend, or someone else who played an important part in your life. It might remind you of home, of a garden you once knew, or of someone who always loved watching the birds. And for some people, there doesn't need to be a deeper meaning at all—they simply love cardinals and the brilliant flash of color they bring to the world.

All of those interpretations have a place in Cardinals Beyond the Veil.

When a Coloring Book Starts Telling a Story

Something unexpected happened as I continued creating the illustrations. The book began developing a story of its own.

One garden led to another place. A path seemed to invite you farther along. Objects and keepsakes began appearing that connected back to earlier moments. Certain locations and details returned, and the cardinals themselves began to feel less like decorations within the illustrations and more like characters moving through this quiet little world.

Before I knew it, what had started as an adult coloring book had become a visual journey.

That's actually one of my favorite parts of creating. I can begin with what seems like a fairly simple idea and then discover that it has quietly grown into something much larger while I wasn't paying attention. Cardinals Beyond the Veil definitely became one of those projects.

Even the title grew naturally from what the book was becoming. There is the world we can see and touch, and then there are the things we remember, feel, wonder about, and carry with us even when we can't necessarily explain them. That little space between the ordinary and something more is where this book seems to live.

It isn't completely magical, but it isn't completely ordinary either.

It's somewhere in between.

A Book You Still Get to Make Your Own

For all the meaning that has found its way into the project, Cardinals Beyond the Veil is still, first and foremost, an adult coloring book. I want it to be something you can sit down with, slow down for a while, and make completely your own.

The black-and-white illustrations are filled with cardinals, gardens, architecture, nature, keepsakes, Celtic-inspired details, and plenty of little things to discover while you're coloring. Some of the pages are peaceful, some are whimsical, and others carry a little more mystery. As you move through them, you may even begin noticing connections between the places and objects you have seen before.

And every once in a while, I hope one of those pages makes you stop for just a second.

Maybe you'll think of someone.

Maybe you'll remember something.

Maybe you'll smile.

Coming for the Holidays

I'm currently working toward having Cardinals Beyond the Veil available in time for the holiday season. It isn't a Christmas coloring book, but I do think it could make a meaningful gift for someone who loves cardinals, adult coloring, beautiful details, or the quiet comfort that sometimes comes from remembering someone special.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing more of the illustrations and taking you behind the scenes as the final pieces of the book come together. You'll get to see some of the pages, some of the details hidden throughout the journey, and probably a little of the creative chaos that goes into turning an idea like this into an actual book.

For now, though, I think the simplest way to explain what Cardinals Beyond the Veil has become is the line that has been following me throughout its creation:

Some visitors never really leave us.

— Michelle

MK McNally Creations