ARTISTS PITALOOSIE SAILA Pitaloosie was born in 1942 on the southwest coast of Baffin Island near the present day community of Cape Dorset. She spent her childhood years in various hospitals in Quebec and Ontario for treatment of tuberculosis. She learned English during this time, and recalls the difficulty she experienced in relearning her native language upon her return to Baffin Island in 1957. She is now one of the few of her generation who speak both English and Inuktitut fluently. Pitaloosie began drawing in the early 1960's, and quickly established herself as a versatile and intelligent graphic artist. Over the years, she has become a familiar presence in the Kinngait Studios, and her work has been included in annual print collections since 1968. Pitaloosie is represented this year by three very different images, but all unmistakably from the same assured hand. Out of the Past (2008-28) depicts a Montreal woman from the 1950’s whose elegant manner and veiled hat made an indelible impression on Pitaloosie. Equally adept at wildlife, Feathered Friends (2008-29) is a beautiful example of her confident drawing style and attention to the fine and telling detail. Since the late 1960's, Pitaloosie has made frequent trips to southern Canada to attend exhibitions and conferences. In 1967, she spent several weeks in Toronto while her husband, the well-known sculptor Pauta Saila, participated in an International Sculpture Symposium. Subsequently, she has visited Halifax, Toronto, Ottawa, Kansas City and Vermont. Her work has been featured in solo drawing exhibitions, and in 1977, Canada Post issued a stamp depicting her print Fisherman's Dream. Her lithograph entitled In the Hills represented the Northwest Territories in the centennial celebration of the National Parks of Canada, 1985. Amnesty International, the international human rights organization, selected a drawing by Pitaloosie entitled “Mother and Child” to use for their 1990 Christmas card. She was also one of nine featured artists in the acclaimed exhibition Isumavut: The Artistic Expression of Nine Cape Dorset Women, which opened at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in the fall of 1994 and continues to travel to other venues. Pitaloosie lives with her husband, Pauta, in Cape Dorset in a busy household surrounded by their children and grandchildren. In 2004, both she and Pauta were appointed members of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts, in recognition of their life’s work and contributions to Canadian art.