DIANE O'CONNOR

FAITH

My faith in Jesus Christ affects everything I think, say, and do. The joy and peace I find in Him—the powerful and loving Designer and Creator of the universe—is reflected in my everyday creative endeavors.  

 

FAMILY

In 1972 I married my husband Bob, who I met on a blind date as a junior in high school! We settled in Wisconsin Rapids to raise our family and open his dental practice. Our children—Rob, Kate, Jeff and Tim—have all married wonderful life partners and pursued their passions— since 2001 our family has definitely multiplied, and added fourteen amazing grands, and one grand-in-law!

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PURSUING PASSION

A designer at heart, I absolutely love creating warm, inviting environments where people feel a sense of peace. Over the years, I've pursued a variety of creative projects that have brought joy and peace to my soul. In this chapter of life I'm returning to my artistic roots and I'm loving it!  My passion is design. I love color and texture and enjoy all kinds of media — oils, acrylics, pastels, and mixed media. I enjoy taking workshops with artists who inspire me. It keeps me fresh and challenges me to try new things.​ In the '90's I transferred my design skills to the computer, and I'm so glad I did! I still enjoy working with ministry leaders to help them visually and verbally communicate their vision.​

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Back in another lifetime . . . I earned my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and taught art in kindergarten, grade school, high school, and at North Central University in Minneapolis. After becoming passionate about how God designed people and teams to work together, I transferred my design skills to organizational development, working with leaders and teams.  I earned my Master's degree in Ministry Leadership from Rockbridge Seminary and pursued multiple certifications in coaching. I designed and developed Leader to Leader™ which is my framework, philosophy, and strategy for leadership development. It's been my pleasure to train trainers who now pass it on, investing in leaders and teams. I also served on staff at Christian Life Fellowship in Port Edwards for ten years, and in recent years I invested considerable time and energy into the development of Love in the Name of Christ of South Wood County. 

 

I absolutely LOVE whiteboards!​ I love taking the thoughts in my own head and arranging them on the board, bringing clarity and focus to any situation. My passion for design shines through as I use my whiteboard to coach other people. I also love to use it to facilitate creative thinking, brainstorming, planning, developing or organizing—helping leaders achieve excellence, unity and focus.

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In recent years I've really enjoyed returning to my artistic roots, taking classes and expressing my love of color and design through painting. I've explored oils, mixed media and heavy body acrylics, and Golden fluid acrylics, which is my current favorite.

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