By Nicole Hamilton
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MILFORD - As an artist and designer, Jack True saw possibilities in all kinds of objects.

A walk in the woods would bring numerous inspirations to the Louisville native. A branch on a trail became an intricately carved walking stick. Turtle shells and animal carcasses yielded more works of art.

His outlook was no different as a friend and teacher.

"He had the ability to bring out the best in a person - even if that person didn't believe, or see it in themselves, Jack could draw it out of them," said his girlfriend, Jennifer Hannah of Milford. "He saw things no one else could."

John Joseph "Jack" True died Tuesday at his Milford home of apparent heart failure. He was 45.

A skilled carver and furniture designer, as well as an accomplished photographer and painter, his work was widely exhibited and appreciated for its craftsmanship and originality. He designed a round pine-top table on four mahogany legs carved to look like a child's tennis shoe, a horse hoof, a gremlin, and a 1950s-style ladies pump.

In his later years, Mr. True began stretching canvas over his own intricate frames. At first the frames were of different geometric shapes, and then they progressed to more elaborate designs such as arrowheads, a horseshoe crab, and a dog in mid-air.

His fine art, often large two- and three-dimensional works, included themes of nature, biology and astrology, and "carried a clear spirituality," said Gary Gaffney, a friend and Art Academy of Cincinnati co-worker.

Operating out of his Milford-based True Studios (www.truestudios.com) , Mr. True worked as a furniture maker and restorer with Chuck Bolton at Federation Antiques.

Mr. True was also an adjunct professor, teaching fine art classes at the University of Cincinnati's Raymond Walters College, as well as fine art, furniture design and carving at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

He was a former teacher at Xavier and Northern Kentucky universities.

Mr. True graduated with a bachelor's degree in fine art from Murray State University in Murray, Ky., before continuing his education at the University of Cincinnati's College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning, where he earned a master's of fine art in painting in 1984.

Not one to chase material successes, Mr. True told the Enquirer in 1996, "I think it's more important to find out what is within yourself that you can contribute to humankind. When you find that out, you're a hell of a lot happier."

Surviving are his parents, William and Evelyn of Louisville; two sons, Daniel and Joshua, both of Milford; and two brothers, Michael and Tom True.

Services have been held.

The body was cremated.

Memorials can be made to the Cincinnati Nature Center, 4949 Tealtown Road., Milford 45150.

---

E-mail nhamilton@enquirer.com