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The “Luke” Chapter
My name is Luke Edward Ollett. I was born to Dick Ollett and Zoë Alexandra Payne. I was only 18 when Zoë passed away. I was in the middle of defining my own identity, my own self exploration as a man and as a human.......
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The “Zoë” Chapter
Zoë was born and raised on the outskirts of London where green rolling fields extend beyond the horizon. She was born to Jimmy Payne and Lucy Stevens on May 11th, 1956 in Amersham, England. She was the youngest of three siblings, the eldest of whom......
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The “Cindy” Chapter
I saw Cindy at a funeral for a mutual friend. She knew my parents when they first immigrated to California from England and had worked with my dad for decades. After telling her about my journey to find Zoë’s pictures, I learned she had a......
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The “Jack” Chapter
Cindy had warned me that Jack was a little eccentric and a bit of a recluse. And I got that sense during our phone conversation. Before the introductions were done he interrupted me to explain that he would not be able to see me in......
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The “Pat” Chapter
An unexpected result of collecting these pictures is figuring out what to do with them. Where they could go to continue their story? It seemed unfair to me that I would be the only one to have them, so I decided that each piece of......
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The “Bird’s Eye View” Chapter
The original of this picture was not signed by Zoë. It was one of the few of which she made lithographic copies. She would make small additions with a very sharp pencil, and then personally sign it with a message to the recipient. For this......
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The “Crystal” Chapter
On my way to Pat’s house to deliver the Woodpecker, I stopped for a night at the Harris household in Folsom, California. I got to know the Harris family when I crashed the memorial of their recently deceased grandmother and shared a number of teary-eyed......
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The “Vanessa” Chapter
There are at least three original Butterflies, each very different. Each clearly showing Zoë’s practiced and improved art skills. In my opinion, the Butterfly was an homage to her disease, Lupus. A symptom of Lupus is getting red or dark cheeks that resemble the shape......
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The “Luci” Chapter
My aunt explained to me that Zoë was obsessed with Pointillism and took a lot of inspiration from Seurat and Van Gogh. Zoë would employ this technique regularly in birthday cards and love notes as can be seen in this Mother’s Day gift Zoë gave......
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The “Jeff” Chapter
When my grandfather died and we were cleaning out his house, we found pictures of Jeff, Zoë’s ex-husband before my dad. Nobody had a lot to say about Jeff when I inquired, just that he was “a good guy,” and “definitely handsome,” and how he’d......
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The “Charlie” Chapter
From Jeff’s house in Washington, I headed south via train to Portland to see my friend and mentor, Charlie. He guided me through my highschool years and was a heavy influence in the way I live my life today. He and I have lived parallel......
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The “Kathleen” Chapter
In 1976, Zoë was living in the Florida Keys. She got word that a friend of hers had moved to the Appalachian Mountains to find life and love, but instead found isolation and a horrible man. Zoë decided to head north and spend a week......
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The “Andrew” Chapter
I worked with Andrew at the print shop that would scan and print Zoë’s pictures. I would bring one in and he and I would stand and stare in silence. I would ask him what he thought the name of the pictures should be. When......
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The “Batman” Chapter
My dad worked with Batman (David). He made a name for himself fixing things while hanging upside down above stages at rock shows. He and my dad were good friends; Zoë and his wife, Diane, were better friends. Zoë had given them this picture as......
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The “Cheri” Chapter
A few months later, I drove from Eden, Utah to Whitefish, Montana to deliver a print of the Dandelion Wasp to Cheri. Cheri’s dad was a pilot who lived in San Francisco during the ‘70s and ‘80s. The pilots would leave their children with other......
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The “Luke & Zoë” Chapter
During the two years it took to find all the pictures in this book, I’ve learned more about Zoë than I’d ever planned. And yet, I yearn to know her more. There are at least a dozen more pictures being cared for by equally amazing......