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The original photo was posted to Reddit by Matthew Decker on January 15
The photo showed Matthew's mother, Cindi, 55, holding up a painting of an egret that she had completed an an art class in Jacksonville, Florida
A Swedish artist noticed the post, and decided to make the photograph into a painting. He posted a photo to Reddit as he held his version of the photo
Just days later, someone else decided to paint the photo. However, the Canadian student painted the Swedish artist holding his painting
The chain reaction carried on as dozens more people recreated the image

Published: 18:01 EST, 31 January 2019 | Updated: 18:01 EST, 31 January 2019

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A schoolteacher from Jacksonville, Florida became the center of a viral sensation after her son posted a photo online that showed her holding a painting she made at a local art class.

Matthew Decker shared the now-viral photo of his mother, Cindi, 55, on Reddit on January 15 with a caption that read: 'My mom painted this and said no one would like it. It's her 2nd painting.'

But much to Matthew and Cindi's surprise, the post completely took off, with another Reddit user sharing a painting he made himself, showing Cindi holding her painting — and more than 40 other people joining in to make more paintings-within-a-painting, all with Cindi at the center.

Original: Reddit user Matthew Decker shared a photo of his mother, Cindi, holding a painting of an egret that she painted at a local art class in Jacksonville, Florida

Take two! Swedish artist Kristoffer Zetterstrand (pictured) noticed the photo on Reddit and decided to paint it for a 'warm up' task, before posting the finished result to the online forum

Cindi Decker had no idea that her painting would end up going viral when her teenage son snapped a photo of her holding her latest creation at an art class, according to the Washington Post.

However, since the photo was posted on Reddit, it had been upvoted iver 75,000 times, and garnered more than 1,500 comments.

Trend-setter! A Canada-based student, Laila (pictured), decided to paint Kristoffer's photo of him holding the painting of Cindi holding her painting

The post caught the attention of an artist in Sweden name Kristoffer Zetterstrand, who decided to turn the photograph into a work of art the following day.

Kristoffer, who best known for creating paintings for the video game Minecraft, shared a video on YouTube as he painted the photograph of Cindi holding up her painting

He then posted a photo of himself holding up the finished product on Reddit with the caption: 'I painted somebody's mom.'

It wasn't long before the photo was picked up by someone else, as two days later a student in Canada name Laila Amer shared another version of the photo.

In this one, she holds up a painting of Kristoffer holding up his painting of Cindi holding up her painting.

Posting her version on Reddit, she wrote: 'Took a while and not perfect, but i painted the guy who painted the other guy’s mom.'

After this, another person added to the chain, by painting Lalia holding her painting of Kristoffer holding his painting of Cindi holding the original.

Paint-ception! Laila's painting spurred others to continue the trend, as they added to the chain of paintings that featured each painter who had taken part in the viral trend

Crazy! As the painting sensation made its way around different countries and states, more and more photos of participant's finished results were posted online

The user then posted his painting to Reddit, and captioned it: 'I painted the girl who painted the guy who painted the other guy's mom who painted an egret.'

Indiana artist Travis Simpson then decided to join in on the fun, and stayed up 'all night' to perfect another version of the painting.

The chaos continued and spread among more than 40 people, all of whom posted photos of their creations online.

And as more people joined in, the paintings of Cindi holding her egret painting became increasingly smaller and harder to notice.

Cindi told the Washington Post that since the photo has gone viral and become an internet sensation, she had been dubbed 'the honorary mom of Reddit'.

The 55-year-old even set up her own page on the forum so she could thank those who contributed to the thread and made their own paintings.

Thanking one of those involved using her new account imthemomwhopaints, she wrote: 'I am overwhelmed and over the moon how this has turned into a positive movement.

'When my son posted that picture, I freaked out knowing he posted it to Reddit, I was in fear I was going to read a lot of hateful comments. You all have proven me so wrong.

Bizarre: People used different techniques and artistic approaches to create their artworks, before posing with them and adding them to the viral chain of paintings

Creative: More than 40 people have created different variations of the photograph so far

'I'm assuming most of you could be my kids, and y'all get a bad rap in this world. You all are compassionate, caring, and a ton of fun! Thanks for uplifting me! You all have inspired me instead,' she added.

Te man who began the meme, Kristoffer Zetterstrand, said that he was on Reddit when he found the photo, and decided to paint it that day in his studio to warm up before he got started with his actual paintings for work.

'It took a couple of hours. Then I thought it might be entertaining to post a picture of me holding it - at the same place on Reddit I got it from,' he said.

'Many have contacted me and told me that it made them genuinely happy.

'It’s a bit absurd to see a quick oil sketch that I did for fun completely blow all my serious work out of the water in terms of views.

He added: 'I’m not complaining, and it is funny, but it makes me scratch my head.'