MAKING A MASTERPEICE Artist Leslie Rowland makes objects new again. If you observe yur child carving words on a piece of furniture or embelishing it with paint, you may want to think twice before chastising them. this could be the first sight of your budding artists future. Leslie Rowland has made a name for herself, not only as a talented artist, but also for taking vintage furniture, adding her creative touches to it and creating beautiful one-of-a-kind pieces of functional art. What started as the desire to purchase home furnishing "diamonds in the rough" to mend, refinish and decorate for her home has become a love affair with creating art out of old furniture. Rowland, whose work has been heavily influenced by her world travels, particularly her time in Central and South America and in Nepal, infuses her work with themes- sometimes philosophical, sometimes emotional, sometimes whimsical, and, at other ties comical. For example, a vintage dresser gussied up with Rowlands mixed media art is on exhibit at the World Market Center and featured old photos of a very glamorous Zsa Zsa Gabor surrounded by small mirrored squares, cut leaf-shaped mirror pieces embelish the handles, and sayings such as "Husbands are like fires- the go out if unattended" are carefully carved into the ornate piece of furniture. Rowlands canvas work offers layered, often colorful compositions of mixed media that take on an almost three dimensional aspect that suggests movement and action. Some pieces appear kaleidoscopic in nature, as if paint were delicately dropped onto water while others are grouped pieces that seem to flow from one canvas to another. You can see more of Rowlands work by logging onto www.lrowlandart.com or www.habitatdesignstudios.com. call 702-306-4138 for more information.