We were happy to wear these pieces on our journey through Alaska — and they’re made to be worn wherever your own path takes you. The clothing I create brings formline into everyday life, designed to move, layer, and live with you. Each piece carries balance, protection, and story, rooted in Indigenous visual language and lived experience.
Every design begins with my original artwork and is brought to life in collaboration with my wife, Sheree Lincoln, a painter and digital designer. Working together, we translate formline into wearable formats that honor cultural meaning while presenting it in a contemporary, balanced, and visually engaging way. — James Charles Reed | Ḵínsá win
I’m James Charles Reed, a Tlingit artist from Southeast Alaska, proud to share culture and heritage through my art. My Tlingit name is Ḵínsá win — written in English as Kingsawin.
My name connects me to the traditions of my ancestors and inspires my work—where I blend traditional formline design with my own creative interpretations that symbolize strength, protection, and transformation.
As a fourth-generation shipwright, I’ve spent my life crafting vessels built for both strength and beauty. Now, I’m transitioning into art full-time, bringing that same dedication to craftsmanship into each piece I create.
Living aboard my sailboat SpiritHawk with my wife, Sheree Lincoln, I draw inspiration from the waters we navigate and the spirit of adventure that guides our lives. From fierce eagles to wise ravens, my designs reflect the enduring symbols of Tlingit culture, each piece carrying its own story of resilience and connection to nature.
— Ḵínsá win
Recognized as a Tlingit–Haida Tribal Artist.
“Visiting Totem Bite Park in Ketchikan, Alaska was an incredibly awe-inspiring experience. Seeing the magnificent totem poles, many of which were created by my own grandfather, Master Carver Charley Brown, was truly humbling. I stand here with my hand what I believe to be the copy of Man Wearing a Bear Hat, carved by my Grandfather in the 1930’s. Israel Shotridge, a cousin on my Mother’s side, carved a second replica in 1995. It was a profound privilege to witness the artistry firsthand and to connect with my family’s legacy within this significant cultural landscape.”
That history does not live only in museums or journals. It continues through making. Today, that continuity takes form in our online studio and shop, where ancestral design meets daily life. Our Etsy store features wearable formline art—dusters, garments, and pieces created to be lived in, not just admired. Each design carries forward the same principles that guided boat building and carving: balance, intention, strength, and respect for materials. By bringing formline into clothing, Kingsawin extends cultural knowledge into the present, allowing story, protection, and transformation to move with the wearer.
Shop our online store directly for a curated selection of our favorite items, including Dusters, featuring Kingsawin’s Tlingit formline art, available without any third-party fees.
Each piece carries forward resilience, connection, and meaning — shop directly with us for handcrafted formline art with purpose. Everything we create — from dusters to formline prints — is grounded in the same cultural foundations that shaped boats, stories, and lives in Southeast Alaska. Our wearable art is not simply aesthetic; it carries meaning, balance, and intention rooted in Tlingit formline and the lessons passed down through generations. This work continues conversations begun long ago, bridging ancestral knowledge with contemporary expression.
Visit our Kingsawin Designs Shop for Dusters:Click Here
You can also find a wider range of our traditional formline art on accessories and clothing in our Etsy Shop:
During 2022 and a visit to the Ketchikan Museum, I spent time with the journals my grandfather, Charles “Charley” Brown (often recorded in archives as Charlie Brown), kept throughout his life—thousands of handwritten pages documenting his journey from childhood into adulthood, and a world in transition.
His writing traces a lived passage from a time shaped by Chiefs, clan responsibility, and Indigenous governance into an era increasingly defined by Western systems and white man’s politics. Reading his words is both personal and historical, offering an unfiltered view of resilience, adaptation, and continuity through profound change. These journals form the foundation of a book I am currently writing, The Education of Charley Brown, drawn from more than 1,000 pages of his handwriting and the enduring lessons carried within them.
To learn more about James Charles Reed, a fourth-generation Tlingit artist and shipwright, and the rich cultural heritage that inspires his work, please visit his About Page Click Here
