With a preferred subject matter and her unique painting style, how then does she adapt her work to suit a particular home interior? “Some homeowners have colour requirements. They may show me photos of their home and want to keep [the colours] consistent, or some may show me their wedding flowers. They may also have hard requirements, such as including peonies,” Toh shares. “Everything else is up to me to suggest. That’s how I balance incorporating my style and what [my clients] ask for.”

While most of her work adorns indoor spaces, she recently completed poolside murals for two private residences. These proved to be challenging projects, introducing unexpected considerations that don’t apply to interior murals. “The environment is actually quite tough to paint in,” Toh shares. “It’s noisy, dusty and dark. The homes were undergoing renovations, so I had to push the scaffolding [around] as I worked on different parts of the pool wall. It’s also very weather-reliant as it’s not sheltered.” Rainy days were particularly difficult, smudging any fresh paint.

The larger of the two poolside murals—spanning 16 metres—took eight full days to complete. This kind of work requires long hours, unwavering dedication, and a strong focus. “When I do murals, I sleep very early the night before. And I don’t do anything [after]. I go home, shower, and sleep. Also, the paint dries very fast, so if I need to work on it while it’s still wet, I cannot afford to stop.”

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What’s perhaps most surprising is her paint of choice. Rather than traditional wall paint, the standard for most mural artists, Toh works with acrylic paint. “Wall paint dries flat. When you paint murals, you typically want detail and gradients. With wall paint, it’s quite difficult to achieve this because the colours are just going to flatten out,” she explains. “There’s also a problem with mixing because the consistency [of wall paint] is much thicker.”

Having worked with acrylic paint since the beginning of her art journey, it has remained her favourite medium over the years. She reassures us that durability isn’t an issue, either: “It’s water-resistant and weatherproof. There’s no need for an additional coat, even near a pool.”

Beyond interior paintings and poolside murals, Toh has been dipping her toes into other applications of her signature botanicals, exploring collaborations in the worlds of fashion, packaging and installation art. Regardless of the context, unusual requests and challenging projects always pique her interest.

Most mural artists work alone, but not Estella Ng and Liquan Liew. Known as Ripple Root, what sets this duo apart is the fact that every piece of their work is a joint venture, be it commercial or residential. They describe their creations as “carefree works reflecting themes of nature and wildlife,” drawing inspiration from Southeast Asian tiles and textiles, folkloric elements, and local fauna.

“Our work speaks to our Singaporean identity. There are themes that, if you’re local, you pick up on, but in a very subtle way,” Ng shares. “We draw a lot from mangroves, where you find local birds and mudskippers.” Their name stems from this very same source of inspiration: “the roots of the mangroves and the rippling of water.”

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Shifting from traditional art to murals was almost an accident. An old client had commissioned the two friends to paint a mural in a neglected alleyway, marking their first work of this kind. “That was before murals were happening in Singapore,” she recalls with a smile. “I was thinking, is this even legal?”

Through word of mouth, more projects began trickling in, demarcating a new niche for Ripple Root. “[Painting murals] is different because of the scale. When you’re [working] on a large wall, you can’t step back and take it all in. You also have to work fast because of the weather conditions.”

Once they began painting residential murals on top of their commercial work, they embraced a more personalised approach to their creations. “A lot of residential murals [revolve around] personal memories. It’s very much about what people want to express. Maybe it’s their favourite nature spots, their favourite animals, or even themselves, represented with a symbol.”

This personalisation resulted in one of their most impressive residential works: a poolside mural for a landed property. The artists wove in representations of memorable travel destinations, alongside other symbols that carry weight with the family. The piece can be admired even from inside the living room, almost enveloping the home with its vibrant colours.

A more unusual request came earlier on in Ripple Root’s timeline. Inspired by a lush botanical mural the duo had painted for the former private members’ club Straits Clan, this particular client envisioned a jungle-inspired wrap-around mural for his powder room. “He wanted his guests to step into a jungle,” Ng recalls. “When you open [the door], you see a toilet in the mirror, but you’re also suddenly in the jungle!”

Currently in progress is a poignant mural for a child’s room, styled as a series of vignettes to represent significant memories with the client’s family. “Her favourite number is eight, so there will be eight little moments [involving] the kids and what matters most to them,” Ng tells us.

Beyond the murals, the duo keep busy with their other artistic endeavours, including a recent showcase at Gillman Barracks, which celebrated the launch of their book after ten years of art making. Hearkening back to their early days of painting scenes at Labrador Nature Reserve, Ng and Liew were delighted to return to the neighbourhood for this special showcase. “It was very full circle,” Ng concludes fondly.

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