Owner Specializes In One-Of-A-Kind Designs

From complex decorative waterwheels to rustic dining tables, Gary Flack crafts anything his customers can imagine out of wood.

Gary Flack's Wood Creations, located at 297 W. Main St., in Farmington, specializes in making unique indoor and outdoor furniture and decorative items that are built to last.

Flack runs his business out of a shop at his home. His woodwork can also be found at Daisies and Olives, an antique store in Prairie Grove, and Sharum's Garden Center in Tontitown.

Flack has been professionally selling his creations since 1998 but has been working with wood as a hobby his entire life. He was introduced to woodworking when he began taking shop classes in junior high. Over the years he took jobs related to the field, such as framing houses and building cabinets, and learned all he could.

"I always like working with wood," Flack said. "The smell of the cedar is incredible."

Flack fell into his business while living in California. His girlfriend asked him to make her a potting table. The tables were selling for $450 a piece at the time. Flack began making the tables and selling them. Within two weeks time, it became a full time job.

Flack gets ideas for his furniture from watching home decorating television shows. He designs the furniture from scratch, using a hands-on process rather than sketching his ideas beforehand.

He also makes custom designs for his customers from photos and sketches.

It takes a lot of practice, Flack said, but he knows enough about woodworking and has enough experience he can pick up new designs pretty quickly. He especially enjoys putting his engineering skills to work.

"Most of my stuff I make, you can't buy (anywhere else)," Flack said.

Flack uses branches trimmed from ceder trees at a local lumber mill for most of his creations. Ceder holds up well outdoors and has a wonderful smell, Flack said. Flack's tables and benches, and many of his decorative items, have a rustic natural edge

Bird houses are one of Flack's best sellers. He hollows out ceder branches trimmed from trees and puts a steeply slanted roof on the top. The end product resembles a hobbit house.

Adirondack chairs are one of Flack's favorite pieces of furniture. The chairs, like everything Flack makes, are heavy duty. He uses two inch thick lumber for all his furniture instead of one inch material. His Adirondack chair pattern has a more comfortable seat than the average chair and he can custom sized seats to fit his customers.

Flack is also proud of his waterwheel design. The 12-sided wheel is attached to a little building that contains a trough to hold water. A spout comes out and provides water to turn the wheel. The waterwheel has over 250 screws and has to be water tight in order to work. Many customers place the waterwheels -- which range in size from three to five feet tall -- next to their outdoor ponds as decorative items.

Gary Flack's Wood Creations is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday but customers are welcome to stop by anytime his open sign is on. He sometimes steps out to run errands so he recommends calling before driving a long distance to visit the business. Flack's phone number is 479-305-3944.