Strong drink artist put up on shelf (6)
I believe the answer is:
arrack
'strong drink' is the definition.
(arrack is a kind of strong drink)
'artist put up on shelf' is the wordplay.
'artist' becomes 'RA' (Royal Academician, member of Royal Academy of Arts).
'put up' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'shelf' becomes 'rack' (synonyms).
'ra' backwards is 'ar'.
'ar'+'rack'='ARRACK'
(Other definitions for arrack that I've seen before include "Alcoholic spirit" , "Liquor" , "Coarse spirit" .)