Barbara Klokner

Klokner, Barbara A.
Madison: Barbara A. Klokner (Klein), age 80, a well-known southwestern Wisconsin artist died at 4pm on July 13, 2015 in Madison.
Barbara was born in the Pewaukee/Waukesha area, where she grew up around her mother's Bakery in Waukesha. She graduated from Carroll College with a degree in Biology, and soon afterwards, married her husband Jim, with whom she would spend 58 wonderful years.
Eventually settling in Madison, Barbara took on the role of mother and unswervingly devoted her life to raising her two children, daughter Anne and son Jim. As a person, she was constantly evolving and nurtured a deep desire to learn all she could. At every stage of her life, she would always look forward to learning something new, and immerse herself in that new pursuit. She was an avid reader, a world traveler, and a wonderful baker; a trade she learned from her mother. She had a wide circle of friends and acquaintances made along the journey of all her interests, studies, and travels.
Barbara also enjoyed her five grandchildren: Christina and Mary (Anne and Jeff Gulati) currently living in Boston, and Julian, Gus, and Eva (Jim and Laine Klokner) of Madison, all of whom she took an active role. To them, she was as devoted a grandmother, or "Ohma" as she was called, as she had been a mother.
Following Jim's retirement from American Family Insurance, they relocated to the "scenic "driftless" area of South Western Wisconsin. Here they both found the perfect spot and involved themselves with the community, forging lifelong friendships. In her later years, her life was centered around her art, her grandchildren, and her garden, which was one of her fondest pastimes. It was also there at that farm in Fennimore that her artwork really developed, in an area she claimed, "...was a place where one's creativity can be as unique and non-traditional as individually possible."
An artisan, craftsman, and Renaissance woman, Barbara had been an active in the art community of southern Wisconsin for over 40 years. As an artist, her interests ranged from photography to pottery, to metal-smithing of all kinds. In addition, she served for over 25 years as a docent at the Chazen Art Museum in Madison, in which she came to understand and appreciate all forms of art and the significance it played in her own life.
As the daughter of an engineer father and a mother both musically and artistically talented, it was natural that beautiful objects became her pursuits, and details were her forte. Developing her craft, Barbara studied at the University of Wisconsin Art Department, learning jewelry design and metal casting and spinning. Eventually, when projects took on a more architectural aspect, she perfected the trade of welding and forging with a unique style of her own. In addition, her beautiful photography emphasized flora of all types, captured near her studio. She further explored her craft with her favorite annual workshops in Santa Fe.


Her interests also brought extensive travels, where both Jim and Barb would experience all walks of life and culture; from the Middle-East to high above the Arctic Circle. And in her photography, here capture the spirit and beauty of all living things.
The art by Barbara Klokner, has been seen throughout southwestern Wisconsin, and has been displayed at places such as the State Office Building in Madison, the Chazen Museum of Art, Castle Rock Lutheran Church, University Hospital, Ankorra Coffee House and La Brioche Bakery in Madison, as well as the galleries of Niehaus Hall and Porter-Butts.
A celebration of Barbara's life will take place at Cress Funeral Home, 6021 University Avenue, Madison, on Friday, July 17 from 5pm to 8pm. A memorial service will be held at 2pm at Castle Rock Lutheran Church, 14677 Church Road, Fennimore, Wisconsin, 53809, on Saturday, July 18.
All Donations may be made to the Castle Rock Church in Fennimore. Please share a memory at www.CressFuneralService.com

Cress Center
6021 University Avenue
Madison, Wisconsin 53705
(608) 238-8406