Eric Yeo has spent most of his life crafting ads until they're as close to art as an ad can possibly get. These days, thankfully, he spends his time fussing over art itself.

Bonsai plants in particular. Eric's got his own take on the age-old artform.

We caught up with him at his home slash workshop in Singapore to talk about his new passion.

Eric tells us his dad has been a Bonsai enthusiast for many years. But his approach to the artform is more traditional. Eric's taken all that old school knowledge and breathed new life into it.

While everyone else has been focusing purely on the plant, Eric's been looking at the whole picture. His Bonsais grow out of slabs of hard wood. There's something magical about the effect. Every tree looks like a piece of art.

Eric tells us it's been a long journey to get to this point, with a lot of trial and error along the way. He even managed to kill some of his dad's Bonsai in the process. Oops!

Initially, he started growing the Bonsai on slabs of concrete, but the overall effect was too cold for his liking. The moment he tried it on wood, he knew he'd hit gold.

Eric studies each plant's roots, and drills holes into the wood to match the roots. Then it's a slow and patient process to make sure the roots catch and grow. Too much water and it dies. Too little water and it dies.

Every now and then, he has to pull the plant out of the slab of wood and repot it to make sure it survives, then try the whole process again.

He's got an assortment of tools to assist him in his work, all neatly arranged in cupboards and chests he's made himself.

We ask him how he worked out the carpentry bit. You don't just pick up a saw one day and know how to use it without chopping your hand off. Eric tells us he took a crash course in carpentry from his uncle and then refined his skills himself.

All this patience and attention to detail has brought a wonderful calm to the man that even a bad day at the office (no shortage of those) can't ruin. He's got the demeanour of a sage, not an ECD.

Eric lost his wife to cancer not long ago. He believes she's watching from up there and likes what he's doing. It's his motivation to keep going.

We take some pictures of the man in his garden paradise. His cat sneaks into a few shots as well and is a natural in front of the camera. Must've been a model in a past life.