Hi there,
This is my attempt of creating a burning match stick in gimp. I think it is good but not the very good or the best. In the absence of Gradient Mesh in Gimp multicolour gradient was not produced in the flame.

But the flame was so intense that it even damaged the carved wood of my blog address.

I really like the colors and composition. Would be a little more realistic if the head of the match was engulfed in flame. Very neat idea to have some burn on the wood carving.

Hi Pat
Thanks for comments. I saw it as Illustrator tutorial. Today I found out how to add smoke.