An artist I am not. Saw the BW was excited, Macro that was cool then the hit over the head - abstract. So taking a suggestion from one of Taffy's mentees but not sure which one. OPPS not good with memory either. So I put on my macro lens adapter (don't have a macro lens) and played with the scalloped spoon. THen added a texture and even tried doing quod tone or was it tritone. Not sure I did it right but like the result. Hope you like it.
I am one of Taffy's mentees, and we have been doing b&w macro for the whole week. This is a great subject for it because of the lovely scallop shapes. Nice shot!
I love the use of black-and-white On this sugar shell. I think that I would have concentrated my shot on the shell it's self. Perhaps just capturing the inside of the shell. I think that would have made it more of an abstract with the added processing. If I couldn't get a clean shot of just the inside of the sugar shell then I might have cropped the picture to just show a portion of the shell it's self to obtain the abstract look.
Of your two shots, I like this one best, also. Abstracts with processing are difficult, so don't be hard on yourself (speaking as a person trying to learn processing this year). There are very nice patterns and textures here - your spoon is pretty. As I learned recently, the curves in their surface can make them hard to focus on. Hang in there. :)
1) use mirrors or reflections in your photo -
OR
2) Soft Pastel Look & Feel - any subject
Here is a link for ideas (not all of the images qualify). I know this time of year it is a little more challenging. https://www.google.com/search?biw=1600&bih=732&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=soft+pastels+photography&oq=soft+pastels+photography&gs_l=img.3...81821.84512.0.84823.12.12.0.0.0.0.228.982.11j0j1.12.0.msedr...0...1c.1.61.img..9.3.218.KgmVOCXBJ84
OR
3) Still life object - as if in an advertisement.
Your choice of any one or combination of topics.