Connie Chau shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Connie , really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
If you find comfort in food, you’ll get what I mean. I grew up on my mom’s cooking, and honestly, she’s the best chef in the world. Because of her, I really learned what it means to put love into cooking for someone.
Not long ago, I met a friend from Taiwan who had just moved to Denver. My boyfriend and I invited her over and decided to make a traditional Taiwanese braised pork dish—Lu Rou Fan. I’d never even tried the real thing before, so I just followed the recipe without expecting much. But to my surprise, my friend said it tasted a lot like the authentic version and that it made her miss home so much.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Connie, and this is my third time being featured on CanvasRebel—thank you again for having me! I’m a freelance illustrator and graphic designer. You can reach me by searching ‘Connie Chau Illustration’ online. For a while, I focused mainly on publication and editorial work, but lately, I’ve been exploring and slowly expanding into graphic design and art instruction as well.
If I had to describe myself in one word, it would be altruistic. I really enjoy helping people reach their goals by tailoring my skills and knowledge to their needs. Honestly, I think I sometimes perform better when I’m working for someone else. I like problem-solving and having new tasks to keep me challenged. So far, I’ve worked on projects like album covers, animated illustrations, abstract editorial pieces, concept designs, portrait paintings, teaching art, and more recently, some graphic design projects.
When people ask about my art style, I always find it tricky to sum it up in a few words. Realistic? Detail-oriented? I think of it more as interactive—it interacts with emotions, thoughts, dreams, souls, and everyday life. I used to dream of having my work displayed in galleries as “masterpieces” or published in art books for people to admire. But over time, I realized that’s not what I truly enjoy. Right now, I’m working remotely with a small pet store in Hong Kong, helping with their logo, lighted signage, and product promotion visuals. These aren’t huge projects, but they’re fun, quick, and give me the satisfaction of solving creative problems.
Always open for any illustration or graphic design challenges!
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
That would be friendship. I feel like my friends are like mirrors almost like versions of me in another parallel universe. When I connect with them, it feels like I’m talking to myself, just with different personalities.
Back in middle school, there was a time when I didn’t really have any friends. It wasn’t because I was a horrible person; I was just introverted and never built a strong bond with anyone, and most people already had their close friends in other classes. On top of that, my relationship with my parents wasn’t great either. So I kept everything to myself—every little joy and every bit of sadness.
In my culture, I was seen as a “bad student” because I didn’t keep up with the class. Teachers only ever gave me negative feedback. They couldn’t see a single good thing in me, and honestly, I couldn’t either. Growing up, I heard way more criticism than appreciation. Eventually, I started to feel like trash. Deep down, I knew I had good qualities, but I would twist them into weaknesses without realizing it.
Gratefully, things changed. Not long after I moved forward from my lowest point, I met an important person in my life, I’m so glad to say she is the one who I feel most connected with – my best friend, Catherine. We have so many common grounds which almost feel unreal. I’ve started to see myself in a much more positive light. With her, I feel loved and respected. I’ve also realized I’m actually a good listener, I have empathy, and when I give advice, I come across as gentle and neutral. People like sharing their problems with me, and I enjoy being that safe “tree hole” for them. I’ll admit, I almost ruined this precious friendship once, but we managed to fix it and grow even stronger together. Even now, I’m still learning new things about myself and about us through this relationship.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
Well, I grew up in an Asian culture where expressing too much could actually be a problem. Most of the time, I just kept things to myself, whether it was good or bad. I remember once in 5th grade, during a really tough exam week, I tried to tell my mom how stressed I was. She didn’t accept it, and she didn’t really listen either. Showing happiness wasn’t safe either, imagine being asked if you really “deserved” playtime, or being blamed for having too much fun when your grades weren’t good. That’s what I went through growing up.
I started to fear being judged. I feared people’s words. Over time, people began to describe me as quiet, grumpy, not understanding, unwilling to communicate, but no one actually knew what was going on inside me. Whenever my mom misunderstood me or treated me unfairly, I either bottled it up or turned it into anger instead of trying to talk it out. At one point, I even thought my family might fall apart because of me, haha.
Outside the house, I was just as afraid to speak up. If a server brought me the wrong order, I wouldn’t ask for the right one. Even before college, I knew SCAD was the school I wanted, but I shivered whenever I had to bring it up to my parents. You can probably imagine how I performed in class – I had words to say, but most of the time, I chose to stay quiet.
It took me a long time to feel comfortable expressing my opinions. Honestly, moving to the U.S. helped a lot. The culture, the environment, the people, they all helped relieve my fear and rebuild my confidence. Now, working as an intern concept artist, I’m less hesitant to ask questions, explain my ideas, and exchange feedback. I’ve also gotten more comfortable meeting new people and hanging out. I’m proud to say I’m making progress.
That said… while typing out this interview in a coffee shop, I was still too shy to ask for the Wi-Fi password……
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
That whole “AI is replacing us” thing. Well, AI is just a tool—how can it actively replace us? It’s not the AI itself, it’s the decision-makers behind it. What really bothers me is seeing executives so happy to lower their standards and professionalism just to hand customers lifeless, machine-generated products.
Since AI tools are now accessible to everyone, generated ads are everywhere. When I visited mainland China in 2023, I noticed that nearly half of the metro ads were AI-generated. And honestly, looking at all the typical generative mistakes—like six fingers or unreadable text, I couldn’t help but wonder, who approved this? Of course, it was the executives. And for what? Better quality? Better ideas? No. Just to cut costs in the most straightforward way.
Right now, I’m working as an intern on a game development project. During onboarding, the lead showed me some generative images to explain the direction and mood he wanted. I’ll admit, those images were really polished and ready to use. But instead of asking us to just draw over them, he encouraged us to create unique concepts inspired by the references. That’s the right way to use AI—as a tool to simplify the process while still respecting craftsmanship and human creativity.
Did it save costs? Absolutely. Otherwise, we could’ve spent days, even weeks, just searching for an art direction. But at the end of the day, we, the artists, are still creating our own work, blasting creativity into it.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
Good question. I’d say both. I was born with an eye for aesthetics and a talent for creating, but as I grew up, I mostly just did what the world told me to do. Getting to where I am now came after so many moments of feeling lost.
Back in school, no one ever told me that being an artist could be a real career—or even a lifelong title. Instead, I’d hear things like: “Art isn’t useful.” “Cool, but artists starve.” “Would you consider other careers?” My teacher would literally look worried whenever I mentioned pursuing an art degree.
At the same time though, people also treated art as a precious talent. My work would amaze them, and they often asked me for help—with genuine joy and respect. Honestly, I was never into academics, and of course my grades were disappointing to both my parents and my teachers. Their expectation was always: put art aside as a hobby and focus on excelling in other subjects, like everyone else.
My lowest point came after a huge academic failure. At the time, I honestly thought my life was over. I had failed in school, and I felt like I had failed in the one thing I thought was my purpose, so what else could I possibly succeed in? How the world would see me? What should I do?
Even now, I still live with that struggle. With the market being so saturated, I sometimes wonder if I made the wrong choice pursuing something I love. But at the same time, I can’t bring myself to give up on my passion either.
I’ve come to realize that life is a long journey, and we each get to decide where to make our stops. I used to believe life had a fixed, standard plan—but now, I’d rather follow my heart and go with the flow, find a middle ground between my dream and the reality, to see where it takes me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.conniechau.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conniechiwaaart/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tszkiconniechau
- Other: ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/conniechau0105
