Wife abandons sly individual to give support to artist (5)
I believe the answer is:
easel
'wife' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how they can define each other.
I can't explain the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for easel that I've seen before include "Tripod for an artist" , "A stand for blackboard or artist's canvas" , "Artist's equipment" , "Painter's frame" , "Artist's stand for painting" .)