Laurene Castilla was born along with her twin sister on April 2nd 1979 in the beautiful city of Lyon France along the Rhone River. When she was at the tender age of 2, she moved to the African Island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. A few years later her family moved to Burundi Africa where the African Great Lakes region and East Africa converge. She has fond memories of being around so many beautiful animals while living in Africa. During the years as a teenager and young adult Laurene lived in Prevessin-Moens France near Geneva Switzerland and she studied fine art.It was soon after that her passion took her to study Optometry at Institutionalization des Sciences de la Vision in Saint-Etienne, France. Here she accomplished the highest degree for Optometry in Europe, the European Diploma in Optometry and The European Qualification in Optics. During her time as an Optometrist, she invented a patent for children , the Retinopuppet. In 2015 Laurene and her family set their sights on America and decided to move to the sunshine state of Florida, landing first in Boca Raton. Later she migrated to the Tampa Bay Area where she achieved her Real Estate license and rekindled her love for art. Currently, she works full time as a painter and sculpture out of her home in Palm Harbor. Her unique vision fuses sculpture on canvas with paint to create amazing 3D pieces. 

Currently she has pieces on display at the Country Boy Restaurant in the charming Gulf front town of Dunedin, Florida.