Artist Trevor Dickinson presents Canberra in a gilt-edged frame

Whether it's a wheelie bin at the Lake George lookout or a detail of the Big Splash waterslide, each work is presented in faux gilt-edged frame, the image treated with reverence and respect.

"I wanted the show to look like a small DIY 19th-century Paris Salon exhibition, where there are way too many pictures to take in in one look," he said.

The exhibition Fresh Canberra Classics officially opens on Saturday at 5pm, with all welcome. All the work is for sale.

Some of the work is from his new book The Book of Canberra, a portrait of the national capital through nearly 300 drawings.

Trevor will also be doing a book signing at The Front on Saturday from 10am to 2pm and selling his calendars and jigsaws.

Other images in the exhibition range from Mandalay bus to the Uniting Church in O'Connor to a Bentspoke beer can.

The Newcastle-based artist is also keen to capture the scenes Canberrans may pass by every day but can never stop to truly look at, such as the Capital Circle tunnel or the ACT sign on the Federal Highway.

"I'm just noticing things and pointing things out," he said.

And the exhibition also includes some behind-the-scenes Canberra such as Michael Chamberlain's 1970s Holden Torana, covered before it was put on display at the National Museum.

"I went to have a look at the large objects at the museum's warehouse and that was there like a ghost, just before they put it on display," he said.