The Muse Moves On: a memoir

THE MUSE MOVES ON tells the incredible story of Rita Kallerhoff, a German artist born in Cologne at the height of World War II, who escapes poverty, abuse and an arranged marriage by immigrating to the United States to seek her destiny as a painter. From the gay nightclubs of New York City to the jungles of Mexico; from the surfer haven of Laguna Beach, CA to a high-end brothel on the Upper East Side of Manhattan; from the center of the hippie revolution in San Francisco to an elegant Park Avenue apartment, Rita lives life to the fullest, painting all along the way.

Settling in New York City, she enters a romantic arrangement with a high power female ad executive whose emotional abuse and irrational behavior is the price Rita pays to obtain her coveted green card. When a Medici-like patron appears from nowhere and gives her a blank check, Rita fulfills her lifelong dream of traveling the world to see firsthand the exotic lands and cultures that inspired so many of her favorite painters. Mongolia, Tahiti, Tonga, India, Nepal, South America and North Africa are just some of the many places Rita visits and paints. Throughout her travels, though, Morocco always holds a special place in her heart and her imagination, and through her patron's generosity she is able to purchase a home there in the ancient medina of Marrakech. When she meets the young and handsome Sharif, thirty-four years her junior, she immediately hires him to pose for a painting and an unconventional romance ensues. Living together when she is in Marrakech, they form an unlikely but touching partnership that is nearly destroyed by Sharif's betrayal. Through it all, Rita maintains a sense of humor and a love of life that makes it seem that truly anything is possible.