She wields brush or boat-rope (7)
I believe the answer is:
painter
'rope' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for painter that I've seen before include "that may tie up a cat, perhaps?" , "Artist's rope for fastening a boat?" , "One who draws" , "Eg, Rembrandt" , "keeps a boat by the bank" .)