Well, after trying a variety of backgrounds and effects, I settled for the "less is more" and just added a bit of lighting to the background in PSP and framed it in black and gold. It's posted in my gallery if anyone wants to see the final result.

"It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to say." - Ghandi