Woman left artist holding gold (5)
I believe the answer is:
laura
'woman' is the definition.
'left artist holding gold' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'artist' becomes 'RA' (Royal Academician, member of Royal Academy of Arts).
'holding' is an insertion indicator.
'gold' becomes 'Au' (Au is the chemical symbol for gold).
'l'+'ra'='lra'
'lra' enclosing 'au' is 'LAURA'.
(Other definitions for laura that I've seen before include "__ Ashley, Welsh fashion and textile designer, d. 1985" , "- Ashley, Welsh clothing and furniture designer" , "Petrarch loved her" , "Cells of a group of recluses" , "Girl's name" .)