As an adult educator for more than 30 years, I have always searched for ways to incorporate creative expression into my teaching practice through engaged pedagogy and student assignments. My major influences came not from educational sources but from the art world and from natural surroundings. In the early 1990's I discovered New Brunswick-based photographer Freeman Patterson. His style and philosophy of photography not only influenced my own photography but also found its way into my teaching and academic writing. Later, in 2001, I visited Ghost Ranch Education and Retreat Center in Abiquiu, New Mexico and knew I had found a spiritual home among the red rocks and wide-open spaces. I identified with Georgia O'Keeffe who painted and made her home at Ghost Ranch for many decades. I taught classes there in creativity and photography but also started bringing more creative energy into teaching master's and doctoral students in adult education. This article chronicles my transformative journey as an artist and as an educator, using original photography and metaphor combined with personal narrative. I offer practical strategies for teaching adult learners and show how photography can be instrumental in teaching for social justice (Brookfield, 2017).