Mike Bellamy

Originally from Denver, Colorado, Mike Bellamy moved to New York over 22 years ago to attend Parsons School of Design for illustration. He began tattooing more than 20 years ago in the underground days of NYC, and the Tattoo Society meetings at CBGB’s Gallery.

Mike has certainly been around the NYC tattoo scene for a while, and the quality of Red Rocket Tattoo goes to show. When Mike first got started though, things were different. In his own words,

“This was all before the horrors of West 4th St., and the tattoo explosion nationwide. Long before before ‘(insert city here) Ink’ television shows. I have worked at Crooklyn’s Cave, Huggy Bear Tattoo in Brooklyn, Inkline Studio, and Sacred Tattoo in Manhattan. In 1998, I started Triple X Tattoo with a partner, which we ran for 8 years until we separated. I kept the location, but changed the name to Red Rocket Tattoo. We’ve been going strong and growing steadily ever since.”

Tattooing, Art, and Travel

Mike Bellamy has tattooed all over the world, including Austria, Germany, Spain, Poland, Japan and throughout the United States. He has been featured in tattoo, fine art and popular magazines from around the world, and served as a liaison between the New York City Tattoo Convention and the New York Department of Health. Mike has curated and participated in over 30 gallery shows with paintings and drawings. Visit—www.michaelbellamy.com— to see more of his fine art work.

In addition to tattooing, Mike also travels the world for adventure and pleasure. He is an avid mountain climber and has reached the summit on four out of the Seven Summits: Kilimanjaro in Africa, Elbrus in Russia, Denali in Alaska and Vinson Massif in Antarctica. He has attempted Aconcagua in Argentina twice, but has yet to reach the summit. Mike began climbing in Colorado, and has impressively topped out on all 54 of the 14,000+ ft. peaks.

He also likes long walks on the beach!