Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said “words don’t describe how much this means to me,” as a portrait commissioned by his mother and painted by a council colleague was unveiled at City Hall Thursday.

The portrait depicts a smiling Ford in a blue blazer and yellow tie set against a multi-coloured background. Coun. Gary Crawford said he wanted to capture the “colourful, very vibrant, complicated” nature of Ford in the painting, which took him 150 hours to complete.

“I was hearing rumblings that a painting was being done, but every time we saw each other somewhere we had other things to talk about than this painting,” Ford said at the unveiling. “It’s very complimentary. I want to thank Coun. Crawford.”

“Words don’t describe how much this means to me,” Ford added.

Crawford told reporters that he would run into Ford’s mother, Diane, at various city functions, including the annual outdoor art exhibit at City Hall. They would often get to talking about his work as an artist before he became a politician.

Three years ago Diane Ford asked Crawford if he would paint her son’s portrait, and continued to ask him about it whenever she saw him. Finally, Crawford decided to get to work on the painting over the summer.

Crawford said he wanted to capture the many facets of Ford’s personality.

“I also wanted to capture the image of what Rob Ford represents, I couldn’t deny that aspect of it, so I wanted to ensure it was part of the painting,” Crawford said.

“Colourful, very vibrant, complicated…these are the kinds of things I was looking at while I was painting the portrait.”

Ford’s mother said she will hang the painting in her living room, where the family often gathers during social events.

“I just love it. I think he’s just captured the essence of Rob,” she said.

“I can see all of Rob’s personalities in that picture.”