Britt Fairchild / Features Writer | Posted: Friday, November 26, 2004 12:00 am
If it were up to him alone, Raul Torres would have remained anonymous. His majestic sandcastles near the Pismo Beach pier would still stand alone 77 nameless offerings of the type of fantasy often reserved for fairy tales.
But apparently, the crowds who/ve seen his work seem to feel differently. Something about his work makes them feel connected to him and unable to separate creation from creator.
In the months since he started building the castles, they/ve already seemed to become a staple of this beach town/s landscape.
Summer tourists couldn/t get enough of the grand and colorful displays. They often watched Torres in action, or stopped to snap photos of him, or themselves, with the finished product.
Certain locals came to expect new castles each week, making a jaunt to the beach a regular part of their routine walks.
Many made a point of thanking Torres in person, a gesture he said he found humbling, if a bit unfamiliar.
Not to mention the masses of those who couldn/t help but "ooh" and "aah" at the castles as they walked past.
"It/s amazing, the outpouring of people 77 for a sandcastle," Torres said recently at his Nipomo home.
The coaxing from admirers (both strangers as well as friends and family) is what prompted Torres to begin writing his name at the bottom of his castles.
Not that he wanted the credit, said his fianc/, Diane Dolphin (Torres proposed a few days ago while the two were on a cruise), but it was a way to let people know that the different castles were all made by the same person.
"Whoever thought of signing a sandcastle," Torres said, perhaps still a bit reluctant to the idea of intentionally drawing attention to himself.
He certainly isn/t reluctant about using his sandcastles to help the San Luis Obispo based nonprofit organization Alpha, which offers free pregnancy counseling, support and other services.
Torres was connected to Alpha after unsuccessfully trying to locate an organization in need.
This idea came to mind after Torres began finding money stashed in his backpack 77 tips people apparently felt compelled to give in exchange for the pictures Torres would give of his castles if asked.
"I don/t need to put a tip jar out there," he said, noting he decided he could use the money to help others. If anything, it has cost him money for the printer and materials to print the photos himself at home.
In August, Alpha staff members began manning tables each week near where Torres builds his castles, offering pictures of the castles to people on a donation basis. Also present at the table is a list of questions Torres said he is most frequently asked.
"We average about ,100 a weekend," said Alpha Executive Director Patsye D. McKenzie, noting the monthly amount is a significant source of funds for the organization. "It all goes to help our mothers and babies."
Noting how important family is to Torres (sometimes his will come and help), she added he is well-suited for the organization.
"(Raul) is such a remarkable, caring man," she said.
That people become so engaged in his building and draw such enjoyment from the finished product also inspires Torres to keep building.
"I enjoy seeing the kicks everybody gets out of it," he said.
Torres built his first sandcastle on Valentine/s Day after watching a sandcastle-making video his son had received for Christmas.
He admitted his first attempt wasn/t necessarily impressive in size or detail.
But with practice, he/s not only improved his technique, but his inclination.
"I don/t know why in the world I took to this like I did," said Torres, who is president of his company, Integrity Management Services, which cleans military hospitals. "I have no real artistic abilities."
The interpretation of a friend, who, Torres noted, happens to be a psychologist, perhaps explains it best.
Rather than create something on a blank canvas, as an artist would do, Torres said, he uses his eye to remove what he doesn/t want there (which actually is ironic because Michelangelo used the same process while sculpting in marble).
The process, though physically strenuous and time consuming 77 he begins at about 9 a.m. and doesn/t finish until 5 or 6 p.m. 77 has become quite therapeutic for him.
"I get relaxation out of it," he said.
At times, he said, he becomes so immersed in the construction that he has to pull himself away.
Torres said his creations are mostly spontaneous 77 he doesn/t know what the end result will look like until he starts working.
Like snowflakes, no two castles end up looking the same.
"Every week, it/s trial and error," he said, noting sometimes his ideas take form effortlessly and other times they don/t go over as smoothly.
One thing people are usually curious about is what he uses to make the castles.
"It/s ridiculously scientific," he said. "It/s just water and sand."
The right ratio of water and sand, when mixed, becomes quite durable.
Some people have thought he sprays the castles with liquid nitrogen to keep them standing, but it/s actually just water in the spray bottle, to keep them from drying out.
Torres begins about 9 a.m. digging in the sand to make the crater that will contain the castle, a process that takes about one or two hours. He then piles sand in the middle, which will become the castle itself.
Torres noted he can/t build too close to the water, because of the waves, but building further away means hauling an awful lot of water from the ocean to the building site.
For hauling water, he uses two 5-gallon pails. He hauls between 50 and 65 gallons of water from the ocean.
"For one and a half to two hours, people think I/m a loon," he said of what this part of the process must look like.
The mixture of the water and sand has to be just right, he said. A vein of dryness will make the sand flake away.
He uses 5-gallon pails, ice cream pails and his hands as tools. He also uses several plastic tools (those that came with his son/s kit), and several more that he handmade, to cut away and shape the sand.
He starts carving from the top down. Stones are a common detail he includes on his castles. For these, he scratches the sand and then blows off the loose sand with compressed air.
Final details often include colored sand to make the castle more vivid and unique. The trees often featured are actually branch clippings from the bush in his yard.
While most people are fans of his work and respect his efforts, Torres said some of his castles have been deliberately knocked down.
Kids have destroyed at least one castle, and one person tried to knock it down by throwing a large dill pickle from the pier.
He builds what he calls a "kid wall" around the perimeter to keep small kids from walking right up to the castle, which does help, he said.
Torres said he/s grateful to his children and to Diane, who/ve been highly supportive of his hobby turned passion.
"She gives me up every Saturday," he said.
Perhaps his sandcastles are a reminder of childhood, and that is what draws all sorts of people to them. Or, perhaps it/s that in this busy time in which Americans live, something as simple as a sandcastle is so meaningful to people, regardless of age or background or status.
Torres said he isn/t really sure of the reason.
Whatever it is, " it sure does trigger people/s happy bone," Torres said.
Raul Torres plans to build his farewell sandcastle of the season Saturday, rain-free weather permitting near the pier in Pismo Beach. He usually begins at about 9 a.m. If you want to see the castle take shape, he recommends arriving between 11 a.m. and noon. Photos of his past creations will be available with a donation to the organization Alpha.
* Staff Writer Britt Fairchild can be reached at 739-2220 or by e-mail at bfairchild@pulitzer.net.
Nov. 26, 2004