Oscar De Winterview (Part 2)

Oscar De Winter returns for the other half of his interview!

Lust: What's the weirdest thing you've come across in Martha Trust, your item of Martha Crust?

Oscar: I have very little time for anything other than the 1p reliquary. It is the only pilgrimage I deem worthy of significant veneration. You can keep your 10p tea cups or 20p coffee maker, if it’s not 1p then to me it is devoid of meaning. This does of course mean that I resign myself to half-burnt candles, Happy Meal toys, and things that definitely shouldn’t have been in proximity to plasticine at one point, but invariably have ended up with just a little bit of the wonderclay encrusted about their fabrics. Best item of Martha Crust for me has to be, for sheer confusion upon seeing it, a small piece of crochet in a pale lemon wool. I can’t even begin to describe it, so I’ll have to allow the photo to do the talking. 

Oscar: It’s got a ring in the middle, but it isn’t a scrunchie. It’s got a couple of layers, so it’s not a doilyesque coaster. It’s entirely impractical for any sensible purpose and aesthetically it is utterly devoid of any pleasing value. Artistic merit is equally poor. It’s almost infuriating how unnecessary the thing is. When something serves no purpose, is it worth existing at all? Questions like this are the reason that the 1p box is the true wonder of Martha Trust. No other charity shop causes
you to leave with an ontological debate on your hands. 

Lust: What would be the Holy Grail of finds for you in Martha? What do you hope to spot poking out from behind an old foot bath?

Oscar: A second-hand truss. I’m going on an “If you can think of it, Martha will have it” theory, and so a second-hand truss would pretty much make my day. Failing that, some politically incorrect porcelain figurines never fail to catch my eye, the more offensive the better. Also, I’d really love to see what passes for taxidermy at Martha Trust.

Lust: Man, so would we...

Catch you soon Oscar! Much Lust - Team Martha.

You can find more about Oscar De Winter in his family album: http://oscardewinter.blogspot.com/

Oscar de Winter interview Part One.

This week Gentleman Scholar and chocolate log connoisseur Oscar De Winter, brings us his thoughts and experiences from the bowels of Martha Trust

Lust - You're not in Hereford much anymore, what do you miss most about Martha?

Oscar - The clientele and the staff. The last time I was in there, I was fresh off the boat and had my suitcase with me. The handle on it had snapped whilst I was abroad, and so I had to use a silk tie to fashion a makeshift handle. The case itself still has a few miles in it so I’ve not thrown it out. Apparently the woman behind the till was very impressed by this, if her softly cawing murmur and greedy eye were anything to go by. The old gentlemen who were congregating around her,
their own eyes dulled by too much time amid the Crust, resounded the same opinion, like a Greek chorus. “Waste not, want not.”

Lust - What are your top golden finds?

Oscar - Without a doubt my top find is The Shell Owl, for one penny [pictured
on the here alongside a fellow charity shop owl].



Not since Sandro Botticelli realised The Birth Of Venus has someone so expertly
channelled the beauty of Shell As Art. Whilst one may reside in the Uffizi and the other on top of a stack of books, there is no question that the two masterpieces share a common genius. It is hard to date The Shell Owl; the superglue that is the binding force of the bricolage is heavily yellowed and The Shell Owl certainly shows signs of wear and tear. Where It has been, I cannot fathom, but It has been
places I have no doubt. As to why It exists, I am equally clueless. Is it a quiet, reflective homage to St. James, with the shells having been diligently collected by some wayfaring pilgrim along the Camino de Santiago? Is it a fertility statue, a fetish comprised of symbolic vulvas? An unwise children’s toy made by some unfit mother? Whatever it is, its Minervan mysteries are safely locked away. The Beak Shell, the keystone in this dilapidated assemblage, is missing; no secrets shall come to light any time soon.

More from Oscar to follow!

Gabrielle Brace interview

Illustrator, songstress and warrior princess Gabrielle Brace kindly took some time out to tell us about her good times with Martha!

Lust: Hi Gabrielle, what's your favourite thing about Martha Trust?

Gabrielle: It has to be their complete lack of a sense of value or worth. There are loose batteries of indeterminate life on the same shelf as cut crystal glasses, both 50p.

Lust: What is the best item you've ever found in Martha Trust?

Gabrielle: Practically: My brown leather and multi-coloured tapestry bag.
Spiritually: My 1p robin with filthy felt Christmas hat.

Lust: What's the worst/weirdest item you've seen on the shelves of our beloved trust?

Gabrielle: A BUMPER PACK OF TENA LADY PADS! £1! The poor incontinent lady who owned them must have died before she even got to open her bulk purchase...

Lust: What would be your dream item, that you one day hope of finding there?

Gabrielle: Some sort of hand-made Elephant? Preferably by an amature crafts-person. I want it to have been created, not out of a need for money, but out of love or insomnia or misunderstanding.

Lust: How upset would you be if Martha Trust was to ever close down?

Gabrielle: I would be utterly distraught!

Lust: Thanks, we'll catch you hovering around the 1p bin sometime!

Find more from Gabrielle in her trunk of delights here: http://gabriellephant.tumblr.com/