MARIANNE CONTI BURT was a painter. Her husband, Craig, was a freelance digital retoucher. Both have degrees from the prestigious School of the Art Institute of Chicago. But when the recession hit in the late 2000s, their careers fell apart. They were forced to downsize their home in Raleigh, N.C., sell many of their possessions and give away their dog. Marianne began looking for jobs on Craigslist and saw a listing for art teachers from a new studio called Wine & Design; it was part of the then-emerging “paint and sip” trend, where friends or coworkers have a few drinks while painting. “I didn’t think this painting-and-drinking thing would take off,” Marianne says, but she and her husband were low on job options.