Freida was born February 18, 1935, in Selmer, TN, to Hester (Graham) Hollis and John Hollis, and she was raised by Irene (Graham) and Charles Moore. Freida studied at the Memphis College of Art in 1981. She graduated in 1984 and won the most prestigious honor awarded to a graduating senior: The Memphis College of Art Traveling Fellowship. This award enabled her to study John Constable, a British landscape painter of the late 18th and early 19th century in Colchester, England. After traveling abroad, she realized the importance of travel in finding her next inspiration. Freida earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Memphis in 1985. Her work has always told stories that connect her world to our world, making it more beautiful. Freida said, "I can paint the feelings and thoughts for which I have no words. My vocabulary seems to be in color." As a child, she always said, "When I grow up, I want to be an artist." In 1982, she wrote a passage in her sketchbook, "For the first time in my life, I know who I am: A Landscape Artist."