This celebration is already a gift to us.
To be here, surrounded by the people we love,
is more than we could ask for.
So rather than receive wedding gifts,
we wanted this moment to begin something lasting.
For anyone who feels moved — and is able —
we invite you to help us create a foundation
devoted to dogs in need.
A foundation built to offer care where there is hurt.
Safety where there is uncertainty.
And the possibility of a loving home.
Your presence is the gift.
Anything given beyond it will help create a new beginning for them.
Give in celebration of Monica and Jonathan.
Donate@straussfoundation.com
Thank you for sharing this moment with us — and for helping its
kindness continue long after the wedding day.
This celebration is already a gift to us. To be here, surrounded by the people we love, is more than we could ask for. So rather than receive wedding gifts, we wanted this moment to begin something lasting. For anyone who feels moved — and is able — we invite you to help us create a foundation devoted to dogs in need: a foundation built to offer care where there is hurt, safety where there is uncertainty, and the possibility of a loving home. Your presence is the gift. Anything given beyond it will help create a new beginning for them. To give, please write to Donate@straussfoundation.com.
On textured aged ivory paper, a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog sits quietly — painted in soft green watercolor washes, breathing calmly, blinking now and then. As you scroll, the paper wakes: a wet ground line reaches ahead of the dog, sage blooms climb the sheet, and the dog lifts its head to watch.
Then it rises — weight shifting forward, standing, taking a first step — and sets off into the painting. Limestone washes gather into the piers of a ruined abbey; ivy marks collect stone by stone; ahead, an arch of untouched paper opens and warm light pools beyond it. The dog walks calmly toward the light, and the journey settles into stillness.