Lakelands resident Riley O’Callaghan (9) is wearing her winning design in the Lands’ End company’s “Every Tee Tells a Story” contest.
Her winning graphic design features a whimsical penguin in an “I Heart Winter” T-shirt surrounded by snow.
“When I first heard I won the contest I didn’t believe it,” O’Callaghan said. “I had worked so hard on my drawing, and when I was done I thought it was really good. I’m so happy that someone else thinks it’s good, too.”
O’Callaghan learned of the “Every Tee Tells a Story” contest in July after reading some information about it in the Lands’ End catalog. Her mom, Christine, said Riley probably spent more time thinking about the design than actually drawing it. She estimates her daughter spent four to six hours altogether on the entry.
Her creative penguin design is featured on a long-sleeved tee in Lands’ End’s Winter Graphic Tee collection now available online and in the company’s catalog.
“It feels so cool knowing that kids will be wearing my design on a shirt,” said O’Callaghan.
As part of her prize, the young fashion designer also received a $500 Lands’ End gift card, and the company made a $1,000 donation to her school, Christ Episcopal School in Rockville.
The school is planning to use the $1,000 for a school-wide tapestry mural project and a large drying rack for the art room.
Her family celebrated their winning artist with an overnight stay in Baltimore that coincided with a live television interview on the Fox Baltimore station.
“We spent the evening before at a lovely hotel in Baltimore overlooking the harbor, had a fancy dinner, room service for breakfast, the whole nine yards,” said mom Christine O’Callaghan. “After the [television] interview, we returned to the hotel and ‘decompressed’ at the pool.”
The O’Callaghan family, Christopher, Christine, Connor (15) and Riley, call Featherstone Street in Lakelands home.
“We moved here six years ago after living in Spain for three years while Christopher served as the [information technology] director at a NATO base,” said Christine.
When Riley isn’t drawing or attending school, she reportedly enjoys gymnastics and piano, and she loves to read and write. Not surprisingly, she also loves winter.
“She loves building snow people and snow animals because she gets to be creative,” said Christine. She said last year’s blizzards provided a great landscape for her artistic daughter, who also enjoys snow ball fights and building snow forts.
The other Lands’ End contest winner was Thomas West, 11, of Quarryville, Pa. His winning graphic design features a penguin on a snowboard.