Ciel Bergman, a.k.a. Cheryl Bowers was born Cheryl Marie Olsen, in 1938, Berkeley, California, and died in January 2017.

She was an American painter of Swedish origin.

Bergman’s work was considered post-modern, has a focus on the environment as well as feminine consciousness.

When she was known Cheryl Bowers at the time, had originally trained to be a psychiatric nurse.

During the 1960’s, she began private study with portrait painters Peter Blos and Vincent Perez, while working as an RN in Obstetrics.

Bergman was awarded first place in painting at The Jack London Invitational, Oakland and the returned to school.

She had two children from her marriage to Lynn Franklyn Bowers.

In the year 1988, the artist made what she felt was a necessary spiritual decision to legally change her name on her 50th birthday, from Cheryl Marie Bowers to Ciel Bergman, to honor her Swedish maternal grandmother, Emma Josephine Bergman.

Known as Blood, Milk, Water, scholar Dr. Wendy Steiner explains, “Her name itself represents that sort of shift – from Cheryl Bowers to Ciel Bergman – becoming a landscape of ‘sky’ and’ mountain’ that is a typical background in her paintings.

Ciel Bergman passed away at 78 years old.