When American artist Tom Cooke opens his second one-man show at the Masterworks Foundation gallery tomorrow, it will represent a triumph of talent over tribulation for the man who has been regular visitor to the Island for 40 years.

For 22 years, Tom Cooke's name had been synonymous with Sesame Street and The Muppets, where he was an illustrator for their books. It was a career he loved, and indeed the characters he faithfully drew on paper wherever he was in the world also occupied a very special place in his heart.

When a stroke brought this illustrious chapter in his artistic life to a close in October 1994, the physical limitations it imposed left Mr. Cooke facing an uncertain future.

But, as the saying goes, when one door closes another opens, so it wasn't long before the former illustrator found a new avenue which suited his talents perfectly.

He took up painting again, thanks to the encouragement of his devoted wife Onalee and the minister at the couple's church, both of whom were as anxious to see the artist regain his sense of purpose as they were to once more enjoy the fruits of his palette.

Although Mr. Cooke studied illustration as a young man at the Vesper George School of Art in Boston, and painted off and on over the years, he admits he was hesitant about taking up the challenge. Nonetheless, he climbed the stairs to his beautiful studio on the top floor of his Newburyport, Massachusetts home, there to fill his brushes with acrylic paint and create a whole new world on canvas.

"When I first started it was very difficult because I didn't feel I was doing good quality work,'' the artist remembers.

"But my wife and minister convinced me that I could do it.'' Sure enough, as his painting improved so too did Tom Cooke's courage to continue.

"My paintings are very different now,'' he says proudly. "They are bolder and more colourful than they were prior to the stroke. They are contemporary, with bold lines and bright colours, and I use a broad brush technique which makes them very lively.'' Certainly those attending his latest exhibition here, which he has entitled `Bermuda and Beyond', will find plenty of evidence that, while Bermuda architecture is a favourite subject, Mr. Cooke's vision is far removed from the "little pink cottage'' genre so beloved of many resident artists.

Because he is no longer able to carry around all the equipment needed to work en plein air, Mr. Cooke paints from photographic images captured by his friends, including Bermuda cartoonist Peter Woolcock.

"The subjects are all places that I know, so I can feel the wind, the light and the smells as I try to capture that aliveness in the painting,'' he explains. "As a result, I find that I keep learning things about the painting. For example, in my Bermuda paintings I usually use a very tropical-looking sky, but in the last one I discovered that it was too strong, so I used a lighter blue, and it made a difference.'' The artist paints every afternoon, but instead of sitting at an easel, as he did when he was an illustrator, he now stands to work because it gives him freer arm movement.

Very occasionally affected by an inability to determine whether his preliminary horizontal and vertical lines are straight -- another legacy of his stroke -- Mr. Cooke has learned to rely on his wife's eye in this regard.

"She is a great help to me, so you could say that the paintings are both our efforts,'' he smiles.

It is typical of this ego-free artist that he acknowledges the constant devotion of his wife.

"Onalee has real courage, and it is really hard taking care of me,'' he allows. "In fact, it is stressful for both of us.'' While that may be so, Tom Cooke is certainly no quitter. In addition to his constant work at the easel, he has also resumed playing the piano -- something he did beautifully before his illness.

Today, thanks to a suggestion from his son Scott, Mr. Cooke now uses his good right hand to tape record the bass line of anything he wishes to play. Then, with the tape running, he uses the same right hand to play the treble line on the piano and voila m ! A complete score is heard.

"It's not quite the same, but I manage,'' he smiles. "Playing the piano is very relaxing. I always was a pianist, and played mostly popular and rag-time.

I can still feel the rhythm and syncopation, and while I have written three musicals, it is hard to compose now because you need two hands in order to get the left hand part right.'' Perhaps he will be exploring composing on a computer some day.

Meanwhile, reading, doing the New York Times crossword puzzle and jigsaw puzzles are other hobbies the artist enjoys, as well as helping to cook for the lively dinner parties the couple regularly give during their annual winter sojourns here.

In the past, they have served as Bermuda Festival hosts -- an experience which once took them to a Government House reception -- and Mrs. Cooke still volunteers with Meals on Wheels.

Certainly, the artist and his family have enjoyed a long love affair with the Island, and already his grandson Cameron has become the first of his generation to continue the tradition.

"We are so much at home here that I feel like an Onion,'' Mr. Cooke says.

"In fact, someone once said I could now be called an Onion.'' So deep is his affection, in fact, that he has painted a Bermuda sky on his dining room ceiling in Massachusetts -- an event which has earned him the nickname `Tommy Tiepolo' from Mrs. Cooke in reference to the Italian artist Tiepolo who was renowned for his skies on ceilings.

Naturally, Mr. Cooke's Bermuda paintings are also found on the walls of their home, as well as in the gallery they own.

In addition to his own creativity, the artist also holds water colour classes for children, as he once did for adults.

While looking forward to tomorrow's opening, for which friends from The Muppets show have flown in, Mr. Cooke insists that whatever success he enjoys is due, in no small part, to the constant support of his beloved Onalee.

"She has been a great inspiration,'' he assures.

`Bermuda and Beyond' opens to the public on Saturday, March 11 at the Masterworks Foundation gallery, 97 Front Street, and will continue through March 24.