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issues that i am still facing

sizing
i knew that there would need to be a lot of experimenting
in order to execute this project
so while ultimately these physical pairings
will have the same ratio as the "somewhere in between" prints
(a square painting with a 4:3 photograph)
that will entail having custom wood cradles made for the photographs
(presumably at a reasonable expense)
i decided to conduct this part of the experiment using square photos
since the wood cradles are commercially available
and therefore not too expensive.
this decision was not without its own issues however;
over the years i have purchased these 8x8" panels from various sources
sometimes the manufacturer stopped making them, sometimes the quality went down, sometimes they became too expensive.
so while in theory,
they are all 8x8x1"
in practice they vary a great deal
so it becomes difficult to find a base for the photo
that is actually the same size
as the painting it is being paired with.
fortunately,
when it comes to having the cradles custom made,
each one can be manufactured to specific dimensions.

printing
for this phase i have experimented with what the photograph should be printed on
at home, i experimented with rice paper, watercolor paper and a variety of commercially produced inkjet papers.
i also have 12 commercially printed images waiting for me to pick up and work with
then there is the issue with manipulating or painting on the photograph itself...

surface
i am going to continue experimenting with wax,
but my initial impetus was to use resin to build up some depth
on the surface of the photo.
this leads to a whole set of issues:

the high gloss surface
once these have completely cured,
i will try sanding and waxing the surface to give a more pleasing patina
the surface is also very unforgiving
to any air bubbles
or specks of dust that might settle during the initial 8 hours of drying
in this one a moth settled on the lampshade!!!
i guess i will be building some sort of protective tent.

toxicity:
hence the exhaust fan (and the subsequent ear muffs),
the goggles,
the masks
(those organic vapor filter cartridges run $60-80 each
but are essential;
years of working unprotected lead to
my developing a 0 tolerance to odors)
i also had to construct a baffle so i don't freeze while venting the fan through the large sliding glass door

[I know the yellow "shelf" that the cradles are sitting on
is visually distracting
but i have limited options when it comes to display