Out East, gads about with an artist
I believe the answer is:
degas
'artist' is the definition.
(I've seen this in other clues)
'out east gads' is the wordplay.
'out' indicates anagramming the letters.
'east' becomes 'e' (synonyms).
'e'+'gads'='egads'
'egads' with letters rearranged gives 'DEGAS'.
'about with an' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for degas that I've seen before include "French artist known for his ballet scenes, d. 1917" , "French painter of ballet girls etc" , "Edgar ---, Fr. impressionist" , "Edgar --, French painter and sculptor" , "Edgar -, Fr. artist" .)