DIANE O'CONNOR

FAITH

I am a woman of faith - it's deep in my core. 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!

​

PURSUING PASSION

A designer at heart, I absolutely love creating warm, inviting environments where people feel a sense of peace. Throughout the years, I've pursued a variety of creative projects that brought joy and peace to my soul. In this chapter of life I've returned to my artistic roots and I'm loving it!  My passion is design - I love working with all kinds of media. I've been working in acrylics and oil with both brush and palette knife. I love color and texture! Sometimes I create fabulous layered painted papers with Golden Fluid Acrylics on my gel plate. I have bins filled with my painted papers — and sometimes they become my palette and "brush strokes". Once I have an idea for a design and do a loose painting, I often add bits of paper—tearing, arranging, and applying them with gel medium. Recently I did an oil painting workshop  with Douglas David in Vero Beach and loved it. I really enjoy studying and painting the ocean with we are in Florida.

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 the University level. After becoming passionate about how God designed people and teams to work together, I earned my Master's degree in Ministry Leadership from Rockbridge Seminary and pursued multiple certifications in coaching. I developed Leader to Leader™, 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.

​

My passion for design still shines through as I coach leaders visually—using my whiteboard. I love to facilitate creative thinking, brainstorming, planning, developing or organizing helping leaders achieve excellence, unity and focus.  Learn more about Leader to Leader™. 

 

Currently I'm investing considerable time and energy into Love in the Name of Christ of South Wood County where I:

—Serve on the Communication Team, using my design skills to illustrate Love INC's mission

—Serve on the development team for our Transformational Ministry [life skills classes and mentoring for clients]

—Help with organizational development by coaching leaders and facilitating board retreats

​

​