A studio ceramics pioneer, Frey is best known for her colossal painted clay figures that weigh thousands of pounds and often stand over 10 feet high. Using thick, gaudy glazes and china paints associated with hobbyists, she developed a deliberately unrefined style. In her drawings, Frey often depicts embattled figures. At the end of her career, she produced huge painted doubled-handled vessels (amphoras ) with imagery inspired by Wedgwood ceramics and ancient Greek vases. Her glass amphoras are related to this late work.