NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - With intricate, meticulous designs, one look and you’d think Newport News resident Karen Freidt has been baking for years.
"I've never cooked this much in my whole life," she stated.
The recent NASA retiree turned pie sculpture, is turning heads with her new and very detailed hobby. She says the calling to create came to her in a dream.
"Something woke me up and it was like September 3rd, on your way home, out of your name into your color," she described.
So Karen says she wrote down the dream in her phone.
"One one of the things I thought about is how can I help others with my art ," said Freidt.
After battling pneumonia and being confined to her home during COVID-19 she whipped up a few the tasty treats and posted the edible art on Facebook.
"The first two pies I posted on Facbeook went viral within a couple days," she said.
Within a few days her creative crusts grabbed the attention of Anna Sui, one of New York City's most recognized fashion designers.
"First thing I said, was how can I confirm this is really you," she stated. "I found out she wanted to use the pies in New York Spring Fashion Week."
It took Freidt more than 15 hours to make the pie fashions now garnering national attention.
"She used the pies prominently in her media, I was shocked," she said.
But Freidt hasn't forgotten those here at home. She's already raised more than $2,000 for the Peninsula Food Bank, auctioning off her decadent designs.
"It makes me feel we are all in this together, and the world is so much smaller then you realize," said Freidt.
To donate to the Karen's cause for the food bank, click here.
