Our Story Begins by The Hearth
A hearth is the area in front of a fireplace that is often regarded as the heart of a home. People gather around the hearth to share love, laughs, and stories so it is important for me to invoke that same sense of welcome in my studio. Timber Hearth Tattoo Company is a cozy, private tattoo studio located in Bangor, Maine. We started Timber Hearth with the vision of building a warm place to create the best and most unique art that we’re capable of that feels like home for everyone. No matter what your story is or where you’re from, you’re always welcome at Timber Hearth.
Timber Hearth Tattoo was born from the idea of providing a safe, private, and relaxing tattoo experience. As a private studio with a client-centric mission, we do our diligence to ensure that business interruptions on our end are minimized so we can focus entirely on bringing your creative vision to life in a peaceful environment. It is also our goal to tell your story through art if you decide you would like that. All tattoos invoke a timestamp in our lives, whether it be remembering a loved one or commemorating great personal achievements, and we believe it’s important to be able to share those stories with the world.
Meet Our Team
At Timber Hearth Tattoo Company, all of our artists manage their own schedules, clients, and finances. We believe that by cutting out the extra obstacle of all inquiries, information, and payments going through the studio and then to the artists, we’re more capable of doing the best work that we can for you. This also places responsibility on all of wonderful clients and prospective clients to select an artist to work with that they feel can best bring their creative vision to life. It’s important to know that we all excel in certain artistic styles and projects and that if we feel that we cannot do the best tattoo that we can for you, we’re happy to refer you to another artist in-house or around town that we know has the capability to do the artwork that you are looking for!
David Aston
David is one of the owners of Timber Hearth Tattoo Co. and is nearing his ninth year in tattooing. David specializes in fine-line black and grey work with subject matter inspired from real-life, anime/manga, and the comic books and graphic novels he grew up reading.
Feel free to check out his Linktree below to book! Please be patient with responses: aside from tattooing full-time, working on another business, and having a life outside of work, he does his best to get back to correspondence when he has the availability to! Thank you!
Nina Aston
Nina picked up the craft of tattooing in early in 2021. One thing you will find about artists is that time-in-service is not always correlative with talent, like in Nina’s case. She shows an incredibly natural propensity for art and tattooing and is already making waves with her fine-line black and grey illustrative work. The style of tattoos that she loves to focus on the most are fine-line black and grey illustrative designs, with a particular interest in doing more micro full color (or black and grey) designs moving forward. That being said, any projects involving flora/fauna, animals, birds, bones/skulls, or other projects highlighting the beauty in both life and death are always welcome!
Nina is now working here at the Hearth full time and is books appointments Saturday-Tuesdays. Check out her instagram for updated booking information and to see what awesome, unique project she can brings to life for you!
Cody is the newest artist at Timber Hearth Tattoo Co. An artist all of his life, Cody has always enjoyed creating art based on comic books, video games, movies, and anime. While Cody has been apprenticing with Timber Hearth since 2021, he’s been honing his tattooing skills since the beginning of Summer ‘22.
He is currently working on building his clientele and beginning to translate his unique and colorful drawing style for tattooing. He loves drawing his own flash based on his favorite games, movies, and comic books as well as crafting unique, custom pieces for anyone that visits him at out Hearth. Cody is also fluent in ASL ( Ameican Sign Language) and can provide an accommodating experience for clients in the deaf community or those just hard of hearing.
Cody Howe
Sam Bullard, Tattoo Apprentice Artist
Sam Bullard (they/them) is a queer artist from the Greater Bangor area who works with a variety of mediums, including embroidery, collage, acrylic painting, & printmaking. Their artwork often centers on the use of vibrant palettes and intimate moments that focus on human connection. Sam received a BA in Mathematics and a minor in Studio Art at UMaine in 2017 and has worked as a freelance artist since 2018. They have been in various art displays across Maine, notably their Pride Art Shows, wheatpaste murals, and All Small Shows. One of Sam’s most prominent accomplishments was designing and painting the mural on Shaw’s in Bangor in 2022.
Sam has found themselves drawn to the art of tattooing for many years and is thrilled to explore this path at Timber Hearth! They see tattooing as an amazing collaboration of both the artist and the client, and would be honored to help folks bring their visions to life in a safe, joyful, and comforting environment. Sam loves the idea of our bodies being a creative gallery of self expression where folks can find a home for their memories, humor, relationships, self confidence, obsessions, and more. Their current interests lie in illustrative color work and subjects related to pop culture, plants & animals, queerness, community, and tarot. They are excited to delve into this new medium and see what other styles and subjects call to them. Sam hopes to give you a positive communal space and unique art to carry with you for years to come!