HAZEL'S VOLCANIC GARDENLocation: Wonder Valley, CA
Accessibility: Long Drive from Anywhere Created: Possibly 1980s |
|
Covering ⅔ of a mile of a strip of land in Argentina is a guitar formed entirely out of trees. Best seen from an airplane above, Pedro Martin Ureta worked on the design as a memorial to his beloved wife.
Built on the shores of the Great Salt Lake in Utah is a Spiral Jetty. The 1,500-foot-long, 15-foot-wide counterclockwise coil is a sculpture from the hands of Robert Smithson, which is adored from the shore and from an aerial view.
Built in 2006, the Bunjil Geoglyph aka Eagle is a creature made from rocks by artist Andrew Rogers in Australia. With a wingspan of 330 feet, the formation of the bird appears to be soaring through the land.
...These examples of land art and many others have been photographed, documented and cemented by the art world. However, one work of land art had been one of Wonder Valley’s best-kept secrets...until now.
Born in Brownsville, Texas in 1913, Hazel Iona Stiles relocated to Los Angeles where she found work as a conductor on streetcars and later in an aircraft factory. Hazel had three sons, Jack, Edward and Robert - survived only today by Jack. After a divorce in the 1960s, Hazel moved to the desolate Wonder Valley. Residing in a primitive cabin with no electricity or water, Hazel lived out a seemingly quiet life until her death in 2012. However, a drone flown over her land in 2018 by Joe Barrett revealed the secret garden of Hazel Stiles. First noticed by Ken and Teresa Sitz - who discovered the work via Google Earth - Hazel’s works appears to resemble a giant Dr. Bronner’s bottle. Covering 300 by 180 feet, Hazel’s garden covered a larger scale of land than neighboring anomaly Salvation Garden, built by Leonard Knight.
Built on the shores of the Great Salt Lake in Utah is a Spiral Jetty. The 1,500-foot-long, 15-foot-wide counterclockwise coil is a sculpture from the hands of Robert Smithson, which is adored from the shore and from an aerial view.
Built in 2006, the Bunjil Geoglyph aka Eagle is a creature made from rocks by artist Andrew Rogers in Australia. With a wingspan of 330 feet, the formation of the bird appears to be soaring through the land.
...These examples of land art and many others have been photographed, documented and cemented by the art world. However, one work of land art had been one of Wonder Valley’s best-kept secrets...until now.
Born in Brownsville, Texas in 1913, Hazel Iona Stiles relocated to Los Angeles where she found work as a conductor on streetcars and later in an aircraft factory. Hazel had three sons, Jack, Edward and Robert - survived only today by Jack. After a divorce in the 1960s, Hazel moved to the desolate Wonder Valley. Residing in a primitive cabin with no electricity or water, Hazel lived out a seemingly quiet life until her death in 2012. However, a drone flown over her land in 2018 by Joe Barrett revealed the secret garden of Hazel Stiles. First noticed by Ken and Teresa Sitz - who discovered the work via Google Earth - Hazel’s works appears to resemble a giant Dr. Bronner’s bottle. Covering 300 by 180 feet, Hazel’s garden covered a larger scale of land than neighboring anomaly Salvation Garden, built by Leonard Knight.
|
Composed of thousands of rocks, stones, and imported lava from Amboy Crater, the sermon in the stones spell out messages such as “Turn off TV”, “God Bless America”, excerpts from William’s Shakespeare's"As You Like It", and much, much more. However, we may never truly know who Hazel was trying to reach with her words. Even Hazel’s son, Jack, was unaware of her creation. Sitz now fervently works to preserve Hazel’s volcanic gardens. Invisible from ground level, Hazel’s garden remains one of the most mysterious and compelling works of ground art and continues to shout to the sky with its messages written in the sand. Join us as we get a closer look from up above Hazel’s Gardens.
|
|
Pictured below is a mosaic of all the text we were able to decipher from the garden. If anyone is able to decipher more of it, please let us know in the comments section and we will update the image. Also check out our extended video of the deciphering process. Click on the video above. Thank you for watching!
