It’s nearing the middle of September, so that means summer is almost over. Most have gone back to school already, the leaves are beginning to change, and there’s that hint of fall in the chilly air. Time to break out the cardigans and pumpkin spice!
Now, I don’t know if it’s just me, but I always get a little sad around this time of year. Don’t get me wrong, I love fall; the spooky season is the best season after all. However, there is something about the end of summer that always gets me. As a kid, it was time to go back to school. No more video games all day, seeing your friends all the time, sleeping in. All gone until next year. As an adult, I don’t get many of those same luxuries, so now I’m just grumpy that the days get shorter and my knee starts hurting. I think that’s why I was so drawn to giz-art’s piece from her DeviantArt called “Ballad of the Windfish.”
“Ballad of the Windfish” is just a gorgeous piece. The soft lines and colors give this a whimsical, dreamlike look. The sun is setting on another beautiful day on Koholint Island. The Wind Fish is just flying overhead, chilling. It’s a very calm, relaxing work of art.
But I also feel a sense of melancholy when I look at it. The Wind Fish looks forlorn, sad that the day is ending. The setting sun makes all the colors darker, giving it an almost unearthly feel, the crashing waves and wind the only sounds that can be heard on the beach. It feels like something is ending. Is this still a part of the Wind Fish’s dream or is it some other fantasy realm? There is an uneasiness in that question and you can see that on its face.
Of course, this is just my interpretation. The artist made this piece for a fanzine and couldn’t help but put the focus on the Wind Fish. “I… tried to make the most whimsical piece my skills were able to do,” she said in a brief interview. It’s clearly meant to be fun. It’s supposed to manifest feelings of whimsy and joy in the viewer. But maybe it happened to manifest something else.
“I’ve worked on this piece and spent of course a good amount of time on it. And then, when [sic] I posted it on my social medias. The very next day, Nintendo announced the Link’s Awakening remake for the Switch. I had no a single clue it could happened [sic] and it was quite the… big surprise.” So, there we have it, we have giz-art to thank for the Switch remake.
All that aside, summer is ending soon and, like the Wind Fish, we will have to start waking up to the realities of work and school and cold, short days. But works of art like “Ballad of the Wind Fish” can transport us to a small island, a pocket of tropical paradise, if only for a minute.
giz-art has tons of other Zelda-related works on her DeviantArt and Instagram pages as well as some other really stylistic pieces from fantastical worlds. Also, tons of adorable animals. You’ve been warned.
