ROCKLAND — Haider Ali has been painting "jingle" trucks long enough in his native Karachi, Pakistan, that clients don't usually request designs. "They say, 'Here is my truck, paint it.'"

One peek at Ali's art and the style is instantly recognizable, even for someone who has never traveled to Pakistan and seen one in real life. A jingle truck is a colorfully decorated truck, and is a slang term for the customized trucks that brighten the region's roads. They are colorful and vibrant, fluorescent, detailed and intricate and wildly elaborate. It is an historical folk art form that dates back to the 1920s, and likely much further back in time and tied to the elaborate decorations that graced camels, and is truly unique.

The practice of decorating jingle trucks and buses, so named for the chains and metal accoutrements that hang from their undercarriage and "jingle along," stems from the desire to attract attention. The more brightly decorated the mode of transportation, the more likely it is the potential customer will pick your vehicle to move their goods.

The theory, if not the marketing scheme, is also that the more elaborate the vehicle, the more successful the operator and the more likely they are to move your goods post haste.

Since last Friday, Aug. 7, renowned truck painting artist Ali has been staying with a friend in Rockland, visiting and hanging out. Ali met fellow artist Kendra Denny in 2002, when they were both at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., for the annual Folklife Festival.

“He was intrigued by my art and I was mesmerized by his,” said Denny.

Ali, then 22, traveled to Washington, D.C., to demonstrate his art work as part of Smithsonian's The Silk Road: Connecting Cultures, Creating Trust exhibition. For the 2002 exhibition, a truck was shipped from Pakistan to the U.S. for Ali to paint, and he said on Friday that it took 35 days for the truck to arrive by container ship.

In contrast, Ali said he can paint some trucks in 10 days, and some in a month or a month and a half, depending on the vehicle's size.

Since that exhibition, which saw artists from 38 Silk Road countries participate, Ali and his team, Phool Patti, have been invited to Melbourne, Australia, to decorate a tram, to paint a truck for the London Olympics in 2011 and more recently, to paint a wall mural in the Swiss Consulate office in Karachi.

Today, Ali is 35. He began painting at the age of 7, taught by his father, also a truck painter since the 1950s. According to his biography, when Ali showed interest in painting, his father started out the lessons with Ali painting vertical lines, freehand, until they were perfectly straight. Then, he had him repeat the process with horizontal lines. From there, he had to master circles in one continuous brush stroke, end-to-end, creating a seamless loop.

Soon, he was creating intricate flora and fauna, landscapes, mountains, waterfalls, lakes and streams. He also paints deities, legendary heroes, and celebrities, and can also work in words of wisdom and landmarks.

On Monday afternoon, Aug. 10, Ali was standing inside Denny's garage in Rockland, painting a mural as a gift to her. It was just him and Denney, a piece of plywood that was his canvas; some cans of paint and containers of solvent, and a pack of cigarettes. Also littering the ground were three packages of fluorescent pigment powder, which he uses to achieve some of the mind-blowing hues that are the signature of his art.

Ali has come a long way from those early lessons of lines and circles, but they have served him well. He uses no references, and no balances or arm rests while he paints. He employs just a few brushes, and can attain sharp lines with seemingly too-fat bristles. He mixes and dabs some color onto a fat paint brush, and almost magically paints the slightest fronds of a flowy, feathery plant. A few more dabs and he has added depth and dimension to the mountains in his landscape, and fluffed up the clouds hanging overhead.

"For him, this piece is like a doodle," said Denny. "He came up with the idea to paint something for me, and I told him he didn't have to because he is probably sick of painting. But he said no problem, and just got started."

For his paint, Ali, usually uses enamel based paints and mixes the pigment powders with the base colors. Denny said they had to scout around to find oil based enamels that would suit him, and ended up with Rust-Oleum products. Then he mixed up the base colors he wanted, that they couldn't find at the store. From there, like any artist, he went on to create myriad hues.

Since Ali's command of English is limited, Denny said they have been able to communicate with hand gestures, photos and Internet surfing.

And that's how they were able to find the painting supplies he needed, among other things during his visit.

When she asked if he need paint brushes, Denny said he told her he didn't want to use American brushes, that he had brought his own.

"Mongoose hair brush," said Ali, in the little bit of English he knew, and with a smile.

And while one would think that the brushes he uses are stiff to achieve the details and razor-sharp straight lines, his mongoose hair brushes are remarkably soft and pliable.

And Ali is a fast painter. He started the mural for Denny around 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 9. By 5 p.m. Monday, it was done.

When asked what prompted the design, the inspiration, Ali said, "No design, no meaning."

He also said that he has lost count of how many trucks he has painted to date, but knows it's more than he can count.

With the mural done, and his visit to Maine and Denny coming to an end Tuesday, Ali said he is next headed to Texas to visit other friends he met during the 2002 Smithsonian trip.

Next year, he promised to return and paint the PenBayPilot.com car in his trademark style. And it will also need to have some chains added to the undercarriage, so it jingles along the way.

The finished painting will be on display in Denny’s studio - 328 Main Street #207 in Rockland - open to the public during Friday art walks.

Reach Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com and 706-6655.