[3][4] Saila's work often explores themes such as family, shamanism, birds, and her personal life experiences as an Inuk woman.

Her husband Pauta Saila was a highly respected sculptor, and her stepmother, Mary Pudlat, has been a regular contributor to Cape Dorset print collections.

However, she began to draw completely on her own initiative in the early 1960s during the time that James Archibald Houston was at Cape Dorset, and her style was distinctively her own.

She tended towards images of strong, nurturing women or mothers with their children, and frequently drew birds and mythical Taleelayu (or Sedna) figures as well.

In 1974, Pitaloosie attended the opening of her first solo exhibition in Hamilton, Ontario, and subsequent showings of her work took her to major cities in southern Canada, the United States and Europe.