Sea mist swirled around painter (7)
I believe the answer is:
matisse
'painter' is the definition.
(Henri Matisse, 1869-1954, French artist)
'sea mist swirled' is the wordplay.
'swirled' indicates an anagram.
'sea'+'mist'='seamist'
'seamist' with letters rearranged gives 'MATISSE'.
'around' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for matisse that I've seen before include "Henri ---, Twentieth Century painter" , "Henri --, French artist" , "20th century French painter" , "Mae sits badly for the French painter" , "Henri -, nineteenth-twentieth century French painter/sculptor" .)