How I Became a Full-Time Artist in 2025 (My Journey Since 1986… and Especially Since 2020)By Leslie Wisenbaker
Becoming a full-time artist wasn’t something that happened overnight. It wasn’t a glamorous leap or a perfectly timed opportunity. It was the result of almost 40 years of making, nearly 20 years of serving my community, and a moment of unexpected heartbreak that became the beginning of something honest and new.
If you're just finding my work now, here’s the story behind how I became a full-time Texas artist — and why art is more than just what I do. It’s who I am.
👶 I've Been Making Things My Whole Life
Art didn’t start for me in 2020 — it started in 1986, when I was 17 years old, pregnant, and trying to figure out my life.
Someone taught me how to crochet, and it was the first time I felt what it was like to create something with my hands that made me feel capable.
I grew up in East Texas — very young marriage, very “white trashy” environment (in my own words), and not much direction. But what I did have was creativity. My mom is incredibly crafty — honestly, probably an artist. Some of her pieces hang in my house today.
Throughout my life I’ve cycled through creative phases:
Crochet
Fiber art
Crafting
Painting
Wood burning
Home décor projects
Making something out of nothing
I didn’t have formal training.
But I had heart, curiosity, and a lifelong need to make beauty out of whatever was in front of me.
❤️ If You Want to Understand Me, You Have to Know This Part
In 2006, my husband and I founded a Substance Use Disorder treatment program in Denton County. Our mission was simple:
Help addicts and alcoholics access real recovery — whether they could afford it or not.
Some people paid.
Many people couldn’t.
We treated them anyway.
We spent nearly 20 years serving the community, pouring our lives into helping people reclaim theirs. We never got rich doing it — that was never the point. We built a safe place for people to get a clear message of recovery and rebuild their future.
That work shapes everything about who I am.
It taught me compassion, resilience, patience, and presence.
It taught me how to see people.
And I think that’s why my art feels personal to people — because it comes from the same place.
🎨 2020 — The Paint-by-Number That Changed My Life
When COVID hit, everyone thought the world was going to shut down. I thought maybe I’d be spending a lot of time at home, so I ordered a paint-by-number kit online.
It took three months to arrive.
But here’s the truth: I never stopped working.
Our treatment program stayed open because people needed help more than ever. Our team kept showing up. I kept showing up. We were exhausted, stretched thin, and giving away treatment to people who had nowhere else to go.
When that paint-by-number finally arrived, I opened it late one night — not because I was bored, but because I desperately needed something quiet and creative to counterbalance the emotional weight of the work we were doing.
That silly little kit lit a spark.
I started dabbling again — painting, wood burning, experimenting, letting myself create without pressure. Art became a lifeline. A release. A place to breathe.
I didn’t know it yet, but that was the beginning of my second career.
💔 2025 — The Hardest Ending Became the Beginning
Our nonprofit never fully recovered financially after COVID. We held on for years, but eventually the funding just wasn’t there.
We had to close.
After almost 20 years.
We treated the last client on the last possible day — still giving services to people who couldn’t afford them until the very end. That part mattered to us.
Closing the program was heartbreaking. It felt like losing a piece of my identity. I had spent most of my adult life helping others reclaim their future — and suddenly, I had to figure out my own.
In the middle of that grief and uncertainty, something became clear:
It was time for me to choose myself.
To choose my art.
To choose a new beginning.
🚀 April 21, 2025 — My First Day as a Full-Time Artist
On April 21, 2025, I walked into my studio, turned on the lights, and said out loud:
“Okay. I’m a full-time artist now.”
It didn’t feel polished or perfect.
It felt honest.
Art had already been growing in me for years — late nights, weekends, experiments, mistakes, commissions, bold pieces, quiet pieces, meaningful pieces.
But that day… it became my calling.
🌼 What Art Means to Me Now
Art isn’t just color and wood and texture.
It is:
Healing
Storytelling
Emotional connection
A way to honor people’s lives
A way to create beauty where it’s needed
A continuation of the same mission I’ve always had —
to help people feel seen
Every piece I make carries a story — my story or someone else’s. It’s no accident that my work is full of emotion, symbolism, and boldness. I’ve lived a life where everything mattered, and my art reflects that.
✨ If You’re Here, You’re Part of This Story
Thank you for being here. Truly.
Every person who follows my work, buys my art, shares my posts, or even just reads this blog is helping me build this new chapter.
If you want to follow along as I continue growing this wild, beautiful career, here’s where to go next:
👉 Shop originals, prints, and functional art at LeslieWisenbaker.com
👉 Follow me on Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest & YouTube
👉 Join my newsletter for new releases and studio updates
👉 Or reach out if you want something made just for you
This is only the beginning.
And I’m grateful you’re here for it. 🎨💛
