Why would a woman move from her home of Los Angeles, leaving everything behind except her paintings and move to Europe? In her refreshingly honest memoir Puertas, artist/author Chantz Perkins leads the reader through the doorways of her life: Different cities, through financial crisis of 2007, parental death and illness, Perkins uses her photography and prose to tell her innermost thoughts and observations. A nostalgic love letter to her home, Puertas is heartfelt, personal reflections of a 30 year career as artist with dashes of immigrant observation in her search to find, what, really is success? An homage to the unique sort of courage it takes to follow your dream. "Doors. Puertas. To keep safe. To keep out. An entry into a new journey in life." "She is home to me, this city. And as I do, as I have with a lover, I question why I ever left her." Illustrations note: 30 color photographs