Secrets To Self Portraiture

How do I achieve thought provoking self portraits, you may ask. First of all I have a strong arm, and I know how to curl my fingers in such a way so I can hold the camera steady and hit the button with one hand. I do this while posing and being very still. That in itself took a lot of practice. I let whatever costume I am in serve as my guide for the overall color theme. In this particular self portrait I was draped in an antique white fabric. Those colors inspired me to manipulate my eyes brown (my eyes are actually hazel). I then added a textured background with flecks of coffee browns, sweet creams and antique whites. For the perfect light I took this shot while near a window. The light was coming toward me. I am a firm believer in natural light. I used PS elements to clone the background into the image. You would be amazed at the background that was there before. I can take images with the most horrific backgrounds and make them look studio quality! I also manipulated some shadowy areas in the fabric into a heart using the smudge tool and smoothed my hair. I am curious to know what you think about self portraiture. Do you think it can be as strong as normal portraiture? Do you think it is artistic? What are any other thoughts about it that you have?