Artist and teacher Thomas J. Steigerwald

"Stepping into his exhibit at Longwood Gardens," an Inquirer art critic wrote of Tom Steigerwald in 1998, "we confront large botanical paintings that have a sculptural presence, as if they are floating in space.

"The appearance is caused by the way the cutouts painted on a flat, hard surface are placed against a white background."

Thomas J. Steigerwald, 65, an artist and former teacher at Moore College of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, died of liver cancer Thursday, June 9, at Abington Memorial Hospital. A memorial has been set for 6 p.m. Sunday, July 24, at Grace Presbyterian Church, Levick and Oakley Streets, in the Lawncrest section of the city.

That one-man show of 11 floral-themed murals at Longwood ran from January through March and was the only art show that Longwood hosted in 1998.

"I thought they did a few [exhibits] through the winter," Mr. Steigerwald told The Inquirer, "but I had no idea that I was the only one for the whole year."

Mr. Steigerwald had proposed hanging a few of his works in the Longwood restaurant, but the staff decided on something larger.

Born in Northeast Philadelphia, Mr. Steigerwald graduated from Lincoln High School in 1964 and, after earning a full scholarship, from the Tyler School of Art in 1968.

From the 1970s through the 1990s, Mr. Steigerwald taught at the Cheltenham Art Center, Drexel University, what is now Moore College of Art and Design, and the Academy of the Fine Arts.

In December 1970, he won the annual alumni exhibition at Tyler. The alumni association awarded him $500.

That was also the year that his work was chosen for what is now the Whitney Biennial, at the Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan.

After a while, life imitated art.

A 2004 Inquirer story reported that Mr. Steigerwald and his wife, Patrice, "moved to Elkins Park in 1993, seeking a bigger space for his art studio and a bigger property for a garden. He found both in a converted 1860 firehouse on a corner lot."

In 2006, reporter Virginia A. Smith wrote that they "have transformed their long-neglected yard into a charming, slightly wild cottage garden. . . ."

"The garden sways with life, inviting guests to enter, stroll around, brush against the blossoms and leaves, drink in the sweet, subtle fragrances."

Patrice Steigerwald told Smith: "It's our summer living room."

Mr. Steigerwald set up a showplace, Stratford Gallery, next to their house, through which he sold his art.

His wife of 31 years said there were no other survivors.