"Don't ever lose your sense of play. Be curious; that's the secret to being young."
Stephanie Garmet is many things, but Thursday night she showed up to her lecture at Towson University's Center for the Arts in what seems to be her most persistent state of being, an artist.
A packed house filled with students, staff, and artists eager to get the inside scoop on Stephanie's process followed an exhibition, Reverie & Alchemy, where some of her most recent work sits.
"My work is about critters. I have a lion; I have a grey crown crane."
Though intricate and detailed in their design, Stephanie references them simply and fondly as critters.
"I think animals are pure spirits, that nature thinks for them and provides for them," says Garmet.
"They have a rhythm they live by in the environment, from the sun and the moon and the seasons."
"It just seemed natural to talk about the spiritualness of what that brings me."
Her husband and frequent collaborator, Quentin Moseley, has been integral in her process and also has his own work on display in the very same exhibition.
"We're a team; there's no question about it, and that's wonderful," says Moseley.
"He's been such a big support, and we're the support of each other, 43 years together, just building this life of loving and making things and being curious about materials and subjects," says Garmet.
"We always were very creative and open in the pure joy art can bring you in making things. You don't always have to have a positive like, 'Oh, I'm going to show this." The act of play, I think, is very important."
This collaboration, they say, fuels them at all different parts in not just their creative processes but their life together overall.
"That's why I love so; she does love to play and to bring that forth," Mosely says.
It's a family affair. Their daughter, Olivia Moseley, now coming of age, is an artist herself.
She is thankful to have been brought up in such a nurturing and collaborative environment.
"They've always been collaboration, ever since I was young, I have so many memories of them collaborating on pieces together," says Olivia.
"Y'know, my mom has all these dreams, and my dad really helps her make it happen."
And though she admits her artistic journey has had its ups and downs, Stephanie stands firm in the decisions she's made to get here.
"When I look back, trying to do this lecture, I was amazed by all the things I've done. Not all have been successful, but some have, and just to stick to it," Garmet says.
"I think if it's a passion and it's always been a passion since I was young, you stick with it."
