Dust, Sunlight, & Creative Fire: What the Beyond Brilliant Retreat Reminded Me About Art & Sisterhood
Texas light and heat has a way of stripping everything down to the truth.
It’s raw and relentless. The kind of environment that doesn’t just flatter, it reveals.
Blog by Jama Finney. Portraits shot in digital medium format - #fujigfx100ii
If you’ve been following my travels…
to Namibia, Iceland and beyond, you know I’m drawn to landscapes that test me. The kind that humble you and make you listen. Texas felt like a sister to those wild places. Unforgiving and generous all at once.
At the Beyond Brilliant Retreat in Marble Falls this October, I found myself surrounded by a group of creative women who were just as luminous. Five muses, unlimited stories, and one landscape that challenged us to let go of control and let the art happen.
What followed was equal parts sweat, laughter, dust, and awe plus a reminder that creativity isn’t about chasing perfection; it’s about participating in the magic that’s already there.
Where the Dust Meets the Divine
The Retreat Ranch hasn’t seen rain since July. The ground is cracked and sun baked, the air dry enough to hum. Every step kicks up clouds of dust that shimmer in the sunlight.
You can’t help but breathe it all in, the heat, the texture, the sheer wildness of it. The ranch is its own kind of altar. The kind where you come to remember that art is messy and sacred in the same breath.
When Women Move as One
There was an ease that happened when we women created together, a rhythm that built itself. We moved around each other in sync, finding balance between direction and intuition, between posing and play.
Every adjustment, every shared laugh, every breath of understanding added to the final image. It was collaboration in its purest form… creative women moving as one, transforming extraordinary moments into art.
When that connection clicked, you could feel it. The camera disappeared, and what remained was trust, reflection, and the quiet knowing that we had made something beautiful together.
The Creative Alchemy
The Beyond Brilliant Retreat was a blur of contrasts: ice baths and desert air, yoga at sunrise and shooting until dark, quiet reflection, spoken word poetry and bursts of wild laughter.
At night, the ranch came alive: a burlesque performance under string lights, a live band spilling sound into the warm air, and a sound bath that felt like it re-tuned our nervous systems. Those moments wove as much magic into the experience as any photograph ever could.
We experimented with lighting, lenses, and letting go of what we thought we “should” capture. Every frame felt like a collaboration between instinct, atmosphere, and the wild Texas light.
That was the beauty of being surrounded by artists, everyone arrived as their own flame, and somehow we all burned brighter together.
What I Took Home (Besides a Camera Full of Dust)
Every retreat shifts something in me. This one cracked open my understanding of connection. Not just between photographer and subject, but between women who chose to create in the same space.
It reminded me why I do this work: to witness transformation. To document the in-between moments where light hits truth and something raw and human appears.
That’s where the story lives.
From the Studio
Back home in Louisville, as I edit these images, I can still taste the dust and hear the laughter. The heat still lingers.
Every frame from that week reminds me: when you let yourself be seen, everything changes. The art deepens. The self expands. The story continues.
If that resonates, whether you’re building a brand or simply ready to rediscover yourself, my studio door is open.
Let’s create something that feels like you.
Creative Credits
Retreat: Brilliance Key
Location: The Retreat Ranch
Host: Jessica McKnight Photography
Educators: Bella Kotak, Pratik Naik
Models: @the_aniyalator, @theredbombmodel, @themirroringsoul, @casssomethin.else, @katyreddellbeauty
Photography: @jamafinneybrandphoto
