He painted his mother's street while touring last year (8)
I believe the answer is:
whistler
'he painted his mother's' is the definition.
(James McNeill Whistler)
'street while touring last year' is the wordplay.
'street' becomes 'st' (abbreviation).
'touring' indicates putting letters inside (tour can mean to go around).
'last' indicates one should take the final letters.
The last letter of 'year' is 'r'.
'st' going within 'while' is 'whistle'.
'whistle'+'r'='WHISTLER'
(Other definitions for whistler that I've seen before include "He used canvas" , "pretending to be brave in the dark?" , "James --, US artist" , "He famously painted his mother" , "referee" .)