It is perhaps because the main focus of Journey is not on art but on personal contacts and on the conflict within the self and with the members of the family. Their inclination to art is functional here; it serves to suggest the high sensibility of the characters.
As opposing to Journey, in Shepard's plays the setting creates an atmosphere where each and every piece of props reinforces the nature of the artist and his art itself. It is especially conspicuous in Seduced, where the setting suggests that everything we see is role-playing. The curtain reminds us of theatres, and everyone is either in the front stage, or in the back stage. Henry's chair "resembles a dentist's chair. It's raised off the ground about a foot. The chair is situated horizontally onstage with the head toward stage left- (233). Anyway, it also reminds of something else - a director's chair, which is lifted and can be turned so that the director can see everything that happens around him and can direct people how to act.
In True West the western setting suggests the obvious topic for a scenario - a western story. But the area where the play takes place is significant from another aspect as well. As Blackburn argues:.
This area "40 miles east of Los Angeles" is not merely an autobiographical font of local color; it is the magic source for the playwright's dramatic tension, his heart's country. It is the real place where Shepard spent his formative years, yet the playwright also condemns its artificiality. It is Shepard's heart's country perhaps because, not in spite, of its dual nature as both authentic and inauthentic. (1).
I think there is a very important part of the setting that we have not mentioned yet, and these are the toasters Austin "obtained."" My idea might be a bit too far-fetched, but I think the line of stolen toasters can be the allegory of artists of that period. I imagine this the following way. The toasters look differently, but when Austin prepares toasts with them and puts these on a plate, it turns out that these roasted slices of bread are absolutely similar, you cannot tell one from the other.