Sweet female artist getting award (8)
I believe the answer is:
fragrant
'sweet' is the definition.
('fragrant' can be similar in meaning to 'sweet')
'female artist getting award' is the wordplay.
'female' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'artist' becomes 'ra' (Royal Academician, member of Royal Academy of Arts).
'getting' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'award' becomes 'grant' ('grant' can be a synonym of 'award'**).
'f'+'ra'+'grant'='FRAGRANT'
(Other definitions for fragrant that I've seen before include "Pleasant-smelling" , "bouquet" , "smelling nice" , "Sweet-smelling" , "Sweet-scented" .)