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Charity Dunaway grew up attending Loyd Star and always knew she had skills in the arts, specially drawing and painting.

Blessed with artistic abilities and a love of creating, what she didn’t know is that she could use glass as her canvas.

A few years ago, Dunaway saw a TikTok of an artist decorating windows for a business and had a thought.

“I can do that too, I think,” said Dunaway.

That’s what she was doing when Y’all Sports caught up with her on a recent chilly day in downtown Brookhaven.

Dunaway is in year three of dressing up businesses around town with her artwork.

She was in front of the Haven Theater when this curious pedestrian stopped her for a talk.

A much-anticipated teen production by the Brookhaven Little Theater of the Broadway hit “Hadestown” was the purpose behind Dunaway’s latest job.

The musical features a score that draws inspiration from New Orleans and on the right side of the window, Dunaway was drawing out some jazzy notes and decorations. The opposite window would have the image of a hand holding a red carnation, the same that appears in the poster for the production.

The color would come later, but at first, Dunaway was using a white grease pencil, the kind favored by construction contractors, to trace out the lines that she’d come back later and cover with paint.

“I don’t always draw it out beforehand,” said Dunaway. “I drew some magnolias recently for Mason and Magnolia Real Estate and I was able to free hand that because I love drawing anything floral.”

Dunaway was busy during the Christmas season, and she’s seen business pick up with Mardi Gras drawing near. Just across from the Haven Theater, she’d recently done two additional pieces.

She often gets repeat customers but also knows she’s not the only artist in town offering her service.

“I’ll do work for someone and then they might use someone else the next time they needed a window painted, but that’s one of the neat things about downtown Brookhaven, there are plenty of windows and businesses for everyone to stay busy and everyone has their different styles of painting,” she said with a s mile.

If you’re looking for examples of her art or looking to book her, search Charity Paints on Facebook.

“The first customer I had was Southern Grace Hair Salon and that first year, I learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t,” said Dunaway. “I paint other stuff, but this is definitely my favorite. I know what I need now and keep my car full of my supplies.”

Her first attempts at painting for profit started with hairbows and then moved on to Christmas ornaments before she found the world of painting windows. She painted 17 windows in her first year offering the service.

She gets her paints locally, using acrylics and she says the finished product doesn’t need any extra protection.

“Even if you don’t have an awning over your window, it’s still going to last,” said Dunaway. “It’ll be there until you’re ready to scrape it off.”

As someone who lives in a neighborhood that borders downtown Brookhaven, I appreciate the job that Dunaway and her fellow artist do in dressing things up for each coming holiday.

I also appreciate the businesses that pay to have that work performed.

So many of the merchants see the value in our downtown, which is like a welcome mat that can draw visitors in.

It’s an area that’s seen much revitalization during my lifetime.

I was reading something written about another city in Southwest Mississippi once and efforts to improve its downtown not long ago. The folks there were hoping to make their area look like Laurel.

As a lover of the “Homeseeker’s Paradise,” that kind of irked me.

You don’t have to travel that far to see what a revitalized downtown looks like, no offense to Ben and Erin.

And with the recent completion of the new City Hall, downtown Brookhaven is only getting better.

Artest like Dunaway brighten things up for the rest of us and I asked her if she notices how many talented people live in Lincoln County.

“You know I probably didn’t realize it when I was growing up, but it’s something I’ve noticed once I started working outside and painting,” said Dunaway. “I have so many artists that stop and talk to me about how I got started doing this and telling me about the art they create.”

I leave Dunaway and let her get back to her job at hand. She tries to get most jobs finished in a day, but as a mom of two, her family comes first.

Her headphones go back on as I walk away, music playing in her ears, as she sketches out lines on glass that will soon become the newest piece of temporary art that’ll brighten downtown Brookhaven.